Light My Fire by Ray Manzarek Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Light My Fire
Book Review: Light my fire.... and did it ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading this book, I feel like all my questions about the doors have been answered. Ray Manzarek gives the correct view of the doors. Very down to earth and honest... this book is awesome and so are the Doors. Ray... Write more!Book Review: Love the Fire
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the book front cover to back flap and loved every word in between. Ray beautifully tells of his loving friendship with front man Jim Morrison (or "Jimbo", Morrison in his drunken state). Ray gives insight into life with the doors, there background, and their hopeful future. Ray sometimes goes on humurous rants, which I LOVE! He rips Oliver Stones to shreds, while still remaining poised and intellectual. Through out the book a love story emerges about Ray and his beautiful wife Dorothy (whom I myself, as a Japanese women, found myself falling in love with her as well!) A great read!!Book Review: Manzarek Rocks
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best book on The Doors I've read, by far, and I've read most all from Patricia K's self-centered, obsessive effort to Danny Sugarman's work. Manzarek is open, honest and doesn't pull any punches. He is not nearly as egotistical or obsessed with Morrison as Kennealy was and speaks as an insider from the origin to the end of The Doors. I found this book inspirational.Book Review: Manzarek Takes You With Him
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all the books I've read about The Doors, my favorite has always been "No One Here Gets Out Alive," by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman. Until now. Now, unequivocally, it's "Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors," by Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player and co-founder (along with Jim Morrison) of The Doors. What makes this book so great is that Manzarek has a way of making you feel like you're there with him, and Morrison and the others, as he recounts that magical, psychedelic period of time between 1965 and 1971. As he puts it: "In that year we had an intense visitation of energy. That year lasted from the summer of 1965 to July 3, 1971." And as he writes, he as much as welcomes you into their lives, sharing their most intimate and personal moments. You're there with them on the beach in Venice, California, when Morrison first mentions to his friend Ray that he's been writing some songs; and it is in that moment that "The Doors" are born, and you're there, and it's as if it is one of your own memories. Manzarek writes with such obvious joy and fondness of this period of time in his life; of his memories of Jim Morrison, the charismatic and enigmatic poet whom he loved as a brother and still misses to this day; of his then girlfriend (now wife of all these many years), Dorothy Fujikawa, whom he adores; of finding guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore and making The Doors a reality; and it's all done with such a Bradburyesque style and flair that by the time you're through you feel as though you're one of them, part of that unique inner-circle of friends. Of course, there's the down side, too, about which he is equally as candid as he is about the rest of it. How devastating it was, for example, to watch Jim Morrison's decline, his descent into the void of the bottle; how it began and why, and the reasons neither he, nor anyone, could help Morrison. He discusses quite frankly how his friend, Jim, the gentle poet with an exuberant love for life, would become "Jimbo," the self-destructive, counter-productive redneck. But throughout, Manzarek manages to remain upbeat and positive, concentrating on the love and good times, debunking many of the myriad myths about Morrison and the others, while painting an intimate portrait of who The Doors really were, and are. "Light My Fire," is poignant, incisive and alive; it is one of those books you are sorry to see come to an end. Like the short life of Jim Morrison, it's a shame there isn't any more.Book Review: No Good
Summary: 2 Stars
I give this book 2 stars for the occasional first person insights into the Doors. But there is too little of it. There is too much of the rantings of a man who is apparently trapped in the 6os, and is undergoing a personal mind battle between himself as a flower child and a business man. He often comes on as one or the other of these two conflicting images.
Often he rants about the establishment and their love of power and money, but at the same time he exudes great excitement when he describes the business and money aspect of his music career; like the big bucks he got when 'Light my Fire' hit the charts and the new car and beach house he was able to then buy. Or when he describes getting his first royalty check from Elektra and "Grinning and Dithering" while he makes his wife guess at the figure. Then she "squeals" and they hug and yell "We're rich!" A few pages later he goes on ranting about power and money hungry people.
I found too much hypocrisy in his writing like when he keeps using the phrase "I hope the lovers win the war. Don't you?" Then a few pages later he comes on as anything but a lover with his nasty second-hand gossip about Morrison allegedly telling him that he didn't like John Desmore. Uh, wouldn't a true lover and person who preaches peace and goodwill amongst each other, have kept that to himself rather than basically telling the world "Jim liked me more than John." I mean, what does that serve other than hurting another man's feelings? Nasty stuff from a self professed lover of people.
"Break On Through" is a much more supperior book on this topic. And it is a shame. Because with Manzarek's personal insight into the group, he could have provided the greatest story....But instead he chose to hog the spotlight and put too much of himself, his hypocritical pseudo hippy rantings, and his mean spirited jabs at others who were a part of this chapter in his life, into this book. I was hoping for more. Instead he delivered mostly junk.