The Collected Works of Jim Morrison: Poetry, Journals, Transcripts, and Lyrics

I have been waiting for this for almost 40 years. I discovered the Doors when I was fifteen. I am 58 now, and this is the Jim Morrison I loved. Jim inspired me to be a poet. I had the opportunity to read my original poetry at his grave site in Paris France in October 2016.

I left the chapbook on his tombstone. The rains came and washed the words away as quickly as Jim's short life.

After reading this book, I now realize that The Doors for Jim was just a way to get some notoriety for his writing. One can also gather, he never wanted to be a rock star. He wanted to make film and write.

Had he never met Ray on the beach that famous day when they decided to create a rock and roll band, I think Jim would have ended up like Sam Shepard, Sam Neil, and Sam Elliot. He would be a writer and a filmmaker. It is evident that rock and roll was something that he never really wanted.

Yes, Jim had that amazing untrained baritone voice, but he was a natural writer, and this collection is evident of his talent. Like Bukowski, Jim had a taste for the strange. He had a curiosity that the band members did not.

It is evident in his poetry that Jim was questioning his own sexuality in regards to preference, identity, and orientation. This may have been what drove his alcoholism. He was not able to be himself. He once claimed in an interview that homosexuality "was not my trip...", but he had no qualms about people being homosexual.

While the band were average to good musicians, Jim could have been vocalist for anyone. It was evident when Jim left the band before he died in July 1971, that the band simply was not a force without him. They were nothing without him, and Pam Courson was too dysfunctional to appreciate him because of her heroin use. Had rock and roll not been a factor, Jim and Pamela could have been the quintessential artistic couple with her art, and his writing and film.

This collection shows his humor and talent as a writer. It is evident here that Jim Morrison was a rock and roll music business tragedy by the greed of the pop music business like Jimi and Janis a year before him.

On the collection: Backstage and Dangerous recorded in 1969 as a rehearsal, JIm's improve is priceless. He spent a lot of the record bashing the music business for it's greed. Shortly after Miami, (and the transcript is included), it was evident that Jim was trying to sabotage it all for peace and quite. He wanted to write. He contemplated leaving the Doors after their third album, and Pamela encouraged him to stay. Again, she did not know him.

This is the writer we wish we could still see today. Jim would be 78 in December. Like writers of his generation, Michael McClure. Gay Talese, Jim may still be a writer today.

I would recommend this collection to any serious writer and poet who wants to see the true soul of a poet. I am just saddened to this day that Jim left us so young. Just like Gen X lost Kurt Cobain, (For which saddens me) us baby boomers lost Jim.

Buy this book!

Rest In Peace Jim.

As a fan of The Doors and then later Mr. Morrison for his poetry, his journals and writings were the Holy Grail. Considered lost, forever out of reach. We were given a rare glimpse of the hand of the genius. A lucky few were fortunate enough to collect an autograph but we all wished for one moment, one day in the presence of that Holy Grail. A chance to peer in and read his words as he wrote them. To glimpse what could have been.

This volume is that Holy Grail and it does not disappoint. No, it exceeds expectations. It invites you in to join him on his "raft" and "gaze in wide wonder at the pyramids" constructed by his poetic genius. Every attention was paid to every detail in this volume and honors the work of the Poet.

I was wondering how a 500+ page book would be filled. It is page after page of non-sensical rambling, completely unreadable.

This was the biggest waste of $37 I have ever spent in my life.

It is soon heading for the trashcan as I don't want to be constantly reminded of how I got ripped off.

After 50 years this man is still giving and still a legend!
From a lifetime Doors fan! This is the best ever!!
This solidifies that Jim was so much more than a singer! This has all his his poetry Plus some unpublished ones! Journals his notebooks lyrics and photos!! Couldn’t be more excited I had pre-ordered this in February!! Highly recommend this as a must have for all Jim morrison and Doors fans!
Long live The Lizard king

I was hesitant to spend this much money on a hardback book. For starters, I find reading a paperback to be more convenient. But I went ahead and rolled the dice on this because I really do believe Jim Morrison is an extremely important 20th-century artist. Of course, I love the Doors music, but Jim‘s lyrics, poetry, and his poetry readings are pretty profound. And his entire life story is very interesting. How does somebody from relatively common beginnings reach such a significant state of enlightenment?

Anyway, I received the book yesterday. As a book collector, one of my big grievances is how so many books today are poorly constructed. I was delighted to see that this is actually a completely fabric “buckram” cover. This book is built to last for a lifetime or two. I like the combination of photocopies of his written notes, as well as printed versions. That allows you the additional insight into his personality from his actual writings, but you’re still going to be able to read virtually everything he produced. This is a thick book, and there’s a nice array of photographs as well. The attached ribbon will help you find your place.

There are only a handful of people that I like enough that I would buy a book like this about them. Jim Morrison is obviously one of them. I’m actually very glad to have this in hardback rather than paperback. (Although I may buy the paperback version as well in the future.) A wonderful companion volume to have would be some thing from Ray Manzarek. I already have his biography, but I think it’s sets a different tone than this. This is distilled philosophy, distilled thoughts, distilled ideas.

Highly recommended!!!

Mine is a Frist printing and is absolutely amazing. Many thanks to Jim family for putting this together.

I am a big fan of The Doors and find the coming together of the four of them a wonderful experience in music history.

However, after reading the entire book,

These mostly incoherent ramblings, with no jewels of wisdom or sparks of vision or philosophy are cold and lonely. Quoting Patricia Kennealy, "I think most of his poems suck eggs."

Perhaps the book is too revealing of his inner self. His words and structures paint a disturbing picture of incoherent thoughts.

But Oh, what a great group of musicians.

So I just got this book today and initially im very impressed with the size and heft to this book! Its literally a college AP textbook format but chock full of goodies from Mr. Mojo Risen himself. It includes all his poetry, private film details, rarely seen photos and of course all of his lyrics. The paper for the pages is fancy, seems thicker than other normal books. Tons of info in it so if you are an avid Doors/Morrison fan, its a must have!

I recognized something in Jim, thru his legacy on this Earth, when I was merely 10 years old, which, many decades later clarified into words my verbal mind could understand: He is an enlightened being of a particular kind- a wrathful Buddha. Its why he continues to move people, after his body is no longer directly accessible. When I first encountered him, his eyes alone, from a Rolling Stone cover, it blew wide open the bars of the cage that held my soul and no-one or no-thing could corral it again. In Buddhism, we know this as an empowerment. A transmission. The biography, “No one here gets out alive” provided a roadmap out of the Matrix, through careful listing of all the authors, poets, philosophers, filmmakers, figures, etc that influenced Jim. I read them all and by the time adolescence hit me, “That’s all, folks!” No mere normie could I ever be. I followed a spiritual path, one that nos lets me see how special that was. Jim Morrison as Guru. After death. Freaking cosmic. This book confirms for me how Morrison’s brilliance came from his soul, not just his beautiful face. He’s an enlightened being, whose essence never dies. The potency of his words, full of mystical vigor, are on display here. Those who put this together understand the special task they are entrusted with. Their reverence for him is clear. Thank you! Liberate yourself from the shell called “reality”, aka Samsara., NOW! Long live the Lizard King!

This printing is not authentic to Jim Morrison's actual poems. If you own An American Night published before the world had to be so correct you will see his line about black people omitted from this version book to have but in my first few pages of reading I'm sad its really not the COMPLETE WORK OF JIM MORRISON