Mr. Mojo Risin': Jim Morrison, the Last Holy Fool

by David Dalton, Jean-Claude Suarès

Argues that Jim Morrison, the leader of the Doors, who died at the age of twenty-seven, was the last in a long line of "pop utopians"--such as Joplin, Kerouac, Hendrix, and Dean

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

157 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mixed bag of obscure, dizzying literary and cultural references written in a maddening, gonzo journalistic style, balanced by often incisive glimpses into the dilemma, myth, and tragedy of the Morrison psyche. Dalton nails the Morrison problematic persona like no other writer I’ve seen has been able to thus far:

"It's the head of a pop saint who invented and reinvented himself in a series of fabulated personae, but allowed himself to be swallowed up by his narcissistic phantom. As if the brooding, intense, charismatic pop idol we see in these pictures had his life stolen from him, and, realizing too late that he would be forever condemned to replicate these specters of himself, fell into a despondency from which he would never recover. His death further canonized him and allowed him to be manipulated by busybodies, necromancers and Hollywood. Ironical and pitiless that he had been such an enthusiastic collaborator in the manipulation of his own image".

I would add that the chief bu$ybodies that come to mind are Ray Manzarek, Danny Sugerman and Oliver Stone.

[Davida · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Doors fan, so I enjoyed a lot of this, but it’s also pretentious nonsense. The pics and captions are great. I fell asleep a few times while reading. I don’t think this is the kind of book you’re meant to read straight through. I was also listening to reggae while reading, so that might have helped along the drowsiness.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

there were these great lines it...imagining what life would be like if Jim were still with us: " ...A sixties oldies show in Las Vegas with Jim stuffed into those leather pants, still falling down drunk, lurching off into the stage. Promoters in the future would have insisted on this aspect of Jim's performance, even if he had been in AA."

I found that very funny, sadly funny.

For old times sakes I found the first doors album on my iPod and listened to it before I fell asleep. I made it thru Back Door Man before sleep won out, and I turned my Pod off and surrendered to it.

[Jillian · Rating 1 out of 5]

not so good.

[Duke Haney]

Another book read as research for a forthcoming piece about Morrison, and undoubtedly one of the best things ever written about him, Lester Bangs-esque, with a touch of Norman Mailer.