Is the lead singer of America's most notorious rock and roll band really buried in Paris? Years after the Poet's apparent death, his longtime musical collaborator and friend Roy receives the first of several mysterious postcards bearing cryptic verse, signed only "J." Trusting his instinct that this is not a hoax, Roy traces the cards to their apparent source—a remote island in the Indian Ocean. There, to his amazement, he is re-united with the man once known as "the snake man," and hears the remarkable story of his faked death—and the rebirth it made possible. A happily married man, the father of two children, he has discovered the secret to life and is finally free of the demons that had driven him headlong through the American night. Now an enticing question arises: Would destiny smile upon the re-launch of one of the most influential rock and roll bands in history? "... a narrative that ends with a moment of authentic surprise and heart-tugging poignancy."—Los Angeles Times

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 28 reviews)

So good.

As a life-long Doors fan, I do wish this story were true. It would be nice to dream that "he got away". What an adventure that would be.

I liked Mr. Manzarek's writing style and his educated vocabulary. The story had me spell-bound. His use of details was so amazing. I loved how he weaved true band experiences into his fiction.
April 07, 2008

I wanted to like it...

I really did want to. I was a huge Doors fan back in the 60's and have recently started reading the many books on them, including this author's memoir, "Light My Fire", which I liked very much. This novel, however, was so ridiculous that after the fist 30 pages, I should have known what was coming. By about 50 pages in, he had found and solved the mystery. Come on! At that point, I had my own (better) ending picked out, skipped a bunch of the middle, and was laughing sadly at the actual conclusion. The "disguised" names he gave people and places were so silly, and the way he referred to the other 2 band members as simply "the guitar player" and "the drummer" was actually a favor, although I'm sure he didn't mean it to be. I would love to believe that somehow Jim Morrison faked his death and is alive and well out there somewhere, but I know it's not true and this just seems to be a way of making money from a long-past tragedy.
September 13, 2007

My Eyes Have Seen You

On a Halloween night about thirteen years ago, I was listening to a radio program with the psychic Kenny Kingston. He was doing on-the-air readings. Someone called up and said (rather sarcastically, I might add), "Hey, Kenny...why don't you contact the spirit of Jim Morrison..."
In a very matter-of-fact tone, Kenny Kingston replied, "You can't contact the spirit of a person who's not even dead..."

Silence.

Wooly Bumps.

More Silence.

Is Jim Morrison dead? Is he hiding out somewhere? These are questions that Ray Manzarek addresses in the book, The Poet In Exile. I met Ray Manzarek and had a ten minute conversation with him about 10 years ago. Nice man. Very nice man. He's not much of a storyteller and I really think he wants to be, but he's a heckuva nice guy.

Lemme tell you about an experience I had about 20 years ago. I was at the Roxy in Los Angeles and I went there to see a Doors cover band, Wild Child. There was this guy sitting there who looked like Jim Morrison would've looked had he lived to become middle aged. He had short, graying hair and a neatly trimmed goatee and he was dressed in a nice shirt and pants and had a very intense look in his eye. He almost looked kind of nervous being there. I mentioned to my friend, "Hey, who does that guy look like to you?" Without missing a beat, he thought the same thing I did.

It's time for the Doors cover band to hit the stage. The drum crack signaling Light My Fire fills the room and the middle-aged, Jim Morrison lookalike finishes his drink and walks away looking hurt and wounded.

What the???

True story. It still sends chills up my spine.

Is Jim Morrison still alive? Is he hiding out? Is he in exhile? I don't really know and this book doesn't really offer any clear answers. If I was a cynic, I'd tell Ray to stop drinking the bong water, but I don't know. I think Ray really wants him to be alive, but all of us Doors fans want that.

Still after all that, maybe "Jimbo" is right where he needs to be; in the hearts and in the souls of all he touched with his magic. In that case, being physically alive isn't the important thing, knowing that his legacy lives on, is.

Not a horrible book...not a good book...

Peace and Blessings, children of Light...
January 12, 2007

Excellent

Ray's easy narrative makes this a quick, but highly enjoyable read. The story is basically the one we all wish was true, what would happen if Morrison was still alive and had only faked his death in Paris.
August 03, 2005

This guy needs to get a life

Ray Manzarek has said in several interviews that he plans to keep writing fiction. I hope he doesn't.

There aren't enough ways to describe just how badly this book sucked. It opens up with more "Me and Jim were just so buddy buddy" bull from Manzarek, more pompous, self important, boring crap from the money hungry organist about how "Jim just wanted to be a poet, man", and how horribly he felt when he died, or did he, oh yeah, he might be alive, Mr. Mojo Rising, keep sending me the money and I will keep kindling your false hopes.

It then degenerates into excruciatingly pretentious "hypothetical" (you can just see him sitting there grinning while churning this out, rubbing his aged hands in anticipation of the money from naive Doors' fans) conversations with some cornball living in India. If you haven't guessed yet--IT'S JIM MORRISON! Apparently he degenerated from being the genius that he was to being a wuss reading Eastern Philosophy all day with two blonde girls, having totally quit his various addictions, particularly alcohol. After the first four chapters I found myself kind of glad knowing that the whole thing is a fabrication. If Morrison had lived and turned out like this I wouldn't be a fan any longer.

(...)
October 12, 2004

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