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Summary: A journey of enlightenment.
Review: Playing, as always, a lucid Apollo to Jim's dark, self-destructive Dionysios, Ray has brought a rare moment of calm and clarity to the dark wilderness of pain that has been, until now, the history of the Doors. In high contrast to John Densmore's bitter, brooding work (Riders on the Storm), Ray's beautifully writtten book is full of the joy of making music. Light My Fire is the story of a journey of enlightenment; unlike Jim, Ray never lost his way.
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Summary: Manzarek, Morrison, and the Doors-- The truth is revealed!
Review: Manzarek writes with the passion that Jim instilled in him. This book gives us the real Jim. The human being. Manzarek leaves the myths that color the Morrison mystique alone. He refutes many and gives us the real Lizard King, insecurities, alcoholism and his duality. Although, his writing is at times diverted by his feelings, Manzarek is clearly writing from the heart for a fellow man that he clearly loved on an intellectual and spiritual level. Most biographers get too mixed up in the myths of Morrison and it is refreshing to get a view from someone as close as Ray was. We all know the stories of Miami and the demise of Mr. Mojo, and Manzarek gives us Jim, the James Douglas Morrison before he had his hollow idol eyes. No BS from Manzarek as he embraces a time of innocence,a time of change and a call for love. If those that read this book can find some inspiration, then we can re-invent the 60's for the 90's. WE WANT THE WORLD AND WE WANT IT NOW!!!
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Summary: A Great Read! Manzarek Shows The 60s Are Alive and Well!
Review: I really got into this book, even though I was never a big Doors fan. I learned a lot about Jim Morrison,of course, and about "the sixties" in a way that lets me appreciate what the "flower children" and acid-dropping musicians were trying to accomplish. And contrary to other reviews that seem to admonish Ray Manzarek for letting his personal philosophy invade the text, I really got a lot out of those passages. It says to me that for Ray the 60s weren't just a trendy way to spend a decade, but an all-too-brief time when the light of the "gentle people", the modern-day American Indians, was able to shine in this world - before being squashed once again by the Dominant Industrial Corporate Machine obsessed with power and control. Ray, I respect your keeping true to the spirit of those times. May the meek indeed inherit the earth someday!
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Summary: It satisfied, but I don't think I'll go back for seconds.
Review: I just finnished reading Manzarek's book and although a huge Doors fan, the book was often times very hoky(sp?) I saw some of Ray's insecurities as a bandmate when he continually had to bring up his IQ and when it came time to go up against Morrison and confront his alcoholism, he whined instead of barked. I hate being lectured about how this generation is apathetic to the "establishment" and has given up. Several times in the book Ray digresses(sp?) from the story of the Doors and goes on ranting. Stick to the story at hand. There are parts I did enjoy. His confrontation at Liberty Records with the "rat pack wanna-be" and also the conversation he had with Pig Pen of the Dead. I wish he would have said more about what Mick and Kieth thought of the Doors at the Roundhouse in London because I read in "Break on Through- the Life and Death of Jim Morrison" that Mick Jagger thought the Doors were boring at the Hollywood Bowl. I have seen! the video "The Doors are Open" and find it a thrilling video. In my opinion, Mick Jagger as well as say John Lennon,feared Morrison and I like that. My main fear is that the Doors are now becoming very much over represented. Let Robby write his book and let the truth and myths lie in peace. Jim's talent and charisma have enough power to keep the Doors popular and respected well into future so that my grand kids will say "that Morrison was one bad dude."
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Summary: I thought the book was detailed and very well thought out
Review: I think that ray manzarek's book "light my fire" was an excellant book I thinks it gave a so much better example of what the doors are about and how Jim Morrison really was I also think that Oliver Stone is a ass**** for making the movie the way he did it was a very mis-informed I think the book was also very detailed about all the invents leading up to their career I personaly met the author and listened to him speek at the book-smith on Haight street in S.F. and he is much more than you think he is
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Summary: I loved this one
Review: This is a grreat read for fans of the doors. This could be considered to be "Riders on the Storm "'s more cheerful twin. Ray writes with a style I really enjoyed. I recommend it for anyone looking for something original , and for doors fans simply because Ray wrote it.
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Summary: Uggh, what a mess?
Review: This is a book that reads easy, I have read half of it in one day. Oddly enough I purchased the DOORS box set at the same time and I listen to the grooves as I read. Man, the vinyl sounds so much warmer than the CD. This book very much reminds me of alot of things from the Navy. Brings back high school and girls. Good job Ray. If you like real life as I do, then this book is snakey. Allen
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Summary: The inside scoop as told by Ray
Review: A fascinating account, from the inside, of the rise and fall of Jim Morrison and the Doors. More details of the early days than previously available. There is much (deserved) criticism of Oliver Stone and the Doors movie. A good counterpoint to John Densmore's book, Rider on the Storm. Now, we wait for Robbie Kreiger's opus.
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Summary: Ray Manzarek Re-Lights That Fire!
Review: Ray Manzarek's new book, Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors, has been highly anticipated for a long time. Before his book was released, Ray was everywhere trying to hype up his book. Television, radio, book signings, seminars, interviews, etc. Did the book live up to all of the hype and anticipation? Ray's writing style is fantastic. He writes casually as if he were right there with you. Staying with the tradition of all other Doors books, he inserts excerpts from Doors songs, other songs, and poetry. Ray takes many jabs at Oliver Stone throughout the book. Calling him a fascist and a jerk. In my opinion, Ray has every right to feel anger toward him. Oliver Stone made a mockery out of Jim, The Doors, their friendship, everything! Ray said he did not see Jim Morrison at all in that film. He also says that it was a good movie about some other band. Hey, Val Kilmer did a great job! In Conclusion: I reccommend this book for everyone! Doors fans and even non-Doors fans! Ray may not go very well in depth in his details, but the content makes up for it. The story of Jim and Ray's friendsip is very compelling. To those of you who are sensitiv! ! e, it may even bring a tear to your eye.
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Summary: a well- written portrait of the artist as a young man
Review: Ray Manzarek's book could appropriately have been titled "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." Neither a complete autobiography nor a comprehensive study of the Doors, it is an impressionistic memoir of the author's coming of age as a musician during the Sixties, and of his relationship with the band's lead singer, Jim Morrison. Manzarek's accounts of growing up in Chicago, his time at the UCLA film school, and his relationship with his wife Dorothy are very interesting in and of themselves; even readers who are not fans of the Doors should find the book enjoyable. For Doors fans, however, the book is a treasure trove of stories not heard before. Manzarek's version of some events that have been detailed in other books sometimes differs significantly in details, and in at least one case flatly contradicts someone else's story (compare his version of Jim Morrison's phone call from Paris with drummer John Densmore's, in the latter's book, "Riders on the Storm.") One gathers that, at least at this point, there is no love lost between him and Densmore. Certain other Doors insiders who will also not be pleased with Manzarek's portrayal of them include ex-manager Bill Siddons and Morrison associate Frank Lisciandro, whose several books about Morrison are widely known. As always in any book about the Doors, as it was while he was alive, Jim Morrison is the central figure. And while Manzarek tells us many tidbits about him that have not previously been heard, he clearly remains as mystified by what made Morrison tick as everyone else who came into contact with him. The Morrison Manzarek reveals to us has most in common with the Morrison of Patricia Kennealy's "Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison;" to Manzarek, he was a very intelligent, talented, courteous and even courtly individual who had an unfortunate propensity for going berserk when he drank. On one level, Manzarek feels that Morrison's story was only too common: that of an alcoholic who h! it bottom. But Morrison was not always an alcoholic, yet he seems to have indulged in self-destructive, scandalous, even downright crazy behaviour from the beginning of his career. Manzarek makes only very oblique reference to the seamier side of Morrison's life which has been well documented in other books, and clearly does not understand what drove him to act the way he did. There are clues in some other new books, including the recent "Angels Dance and Angels Die: The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison" by Patricia Butler, and "Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison" by Linda Ashcroft, just published in England. At the end of Manzarek's book one is left with a profound sadness for Jim Morrison, who clearly knew himself to be a doomed man, yet could not help himself. He has now been dead for as long as he was alive. Manzarek is to be commended for publishing his memories, and letting us see the Morrison he knew.
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