The American Night : The Writings of Jim Morrison

Rating:
Summary: Unbalanced
Review: Some of Jim's poems are exceptionally good, specifically the finished ones. But for the most part it seems they weren't finished, which isn't surprising considering American Night was published by his estate after his death. Who knows what he was planning to do with this material... it was just laying around in a jumble in various notebooks, I presume, and so they decided to sell it. They sold it "as is", straight from his notebooks and journals without any editing.

You might already be familiar with some of the material in this book, such as the chapter called Lyric Verse, which is a rehash of song lyrics. Then there's "Celebration of the Lizard," "American Prayer," "The Hitchhiker," "Paris Journal," and "Notebook Poems." I thought the most interesting section was "Notebook Poems", it was full of ideas about this and that, basically lots of experimentation. But unfortunately a lot of it just seems piled together.

I recommend Jim's self-published poetry book The Lords and New Creatures. It was completed while he was alive, thus it has the feel of a finished project-- something American Night lacks.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent excellent performance piece...
Review: The American Night: the writings of Jim Morrison is a big part of what first got me started reading classic literature, poetry and also writing short fiction and poetry. The American Night to me could be read as one giant performance piece. With its nightmarish images and tantalizing sensuality this also contains some great content executed beautifully. Morrison writes w\such flair and contempt for all authority it's frightening and inspiring. His writing is also quite reminiscent of Jack Kerouac and the legacy of "jazz" poetry in that both are uncaged and disregarding all the "rules" and boundaries of literature. When there is only one simple rule" poetry, and literature alike is ment to be freeing to the soul and a break for social constraints. The bottom line: if your an aspiring or writer I highly recommend this. I also highly recommend this if your a fan of Kerouac, Whitmann, Poe (to some extent) or Ginsberg.

"The killer awoke before dawn; he put his boots on. He took a face from the ancient gallery and he...walked on down the hall...he went into the room where his sister and...then he...paid a visit to his brother...and then he...he walked on down the hall...and he came to a door...and he looked inside, 'Father," 'Yes Son,' 'I want to kill you,' 'Mother, I want to...ALL NIGHT BABY!'"

Rating:
Summary: It had a great reading texture.
Review: The book had a nice reading to it, but it was not quite as good as the Lords and the New Creatures.

Rating:
Summary: High School Kids Love It
Review: This book has gotten many of my high school students, particularly boys, really interested in poetry. They are familiar with Morrison through his music and are surprised that he is a poet. I can hardly keep the book on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: My Doors of Perception have been opened...
Review: This book is a great gift that a guy like Jim shared with the world and I highly recommend it to anyone, because there is something for everyone in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Morrison's master work.
Review: This book was very well put togather. If you love (or even like) the Doors, you will never want to put this book down. A must read book.

Rating:
Summary: Lizard King's poetry
Review: This collection by Jim Morrison is deep and beautiful. I have found that alot of these poems on here are also on the American Prayer CD, so that is cool. If you like this, get any other book from Jim, you won't be disappionted. If you want to hear him read his work, get the American Prayer CD.

Rating:
Summary: MuST fOr aNy REaL faN oF thE dOOrS
Review: This is a great suppliment to "Wilderness." It captures more of Jim that hadn't been published before, including a screnplay for "The Hitchhiker," also called "HWY." It is a great book for anyone who loves Morrison's poetry. I reccomend it HIGH-LY. Gretty [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: the writings of a true american poet
Review: this was a poetic masterpiece. Perfected by one of our countries greatest poets. But his reputation as a rock star made people think that jim wasn't really a poet. But at heart he truely was. The writings in this book are some of jim's best writings ever. And for those who don't agree with me and say that this book is terrible think this probably because it takes a certain type of person to really understand what the great american poet was trying to say.

Rating:
Summary: With music, these words are incredible
Review: Though this is a great book of poetry, and definately written by one of the greatest poets of our time, there is a better way to experience these words. There is an album out, you can get it on CD, and most stores have it. Its called "American Prayer" by Jim morrison. It is all these poems spoken by jim morrison with doors music set behind it. If you like Jim's poetry, and the music of the doors, you'll play this album over and over and over until you've memorized all the poems yourself. Its great. and trippy, too.