No One Here Gets Out Alive was the first
biography of
Jim Morrison, lead singer and lyricist of the L.A. rock band
The Doors, written after his death by journalist
Jerry Hopkins, with later "insider" information added by
Danny Sugerman. The book is largely credited with revitalizing the popularity of the Doors and Morrison. Hopkins had done an extensive interview with Morrison before his death, but his first manuscript was rejected by major publishers. Sugerman began working as an assistant in the Doors office at the age of fourteen, and became their manager after Morrison died (replacing
Bill Siddons). According to Doors drummer
John Densmore, Sugerman became "the manager and driving force behind The Doors" who "guided our career for over 30 years" until his death in 2005.
The book has been criticized as being
obsequious and lacking any meaningful analysis of Morrison's personality, as well as with dwelling on the worst and most pointless of Morrison's excesses, such as his alcoholism. The fact that Sugerman has been described as "the number one Doors fan of the world", has led detractors to label this book "Nothing Here But a Bunch of Lies" and the work of a fabulist. Critics have also opined that the information added by Sugerman, which made the manuscript more appealing to publishers, was sensationalism and in some cases outright fabrication. Those who knew both Morrison and Sugerman have said Sugerman's touting of himself as an "insider" during the time Morrison was alive is an exaggeration at best. Material introduced by Sugerman included insinuations that Morrison had not really died and wild speculations about the possible causes of his death. Surviving family and friends were not pleased with the unwanted entreaties by stalkers looking for Morrison and the vandalization of his grave by fans hoping to
exhume Morrison's body. Sugerman's credibility was not helped by the fact that he lifted part of his book's foreword almost word-for-word from Venable Herndon's biography James Dean: A Short Life.
The book title is taken from the Doors song "
Five To One".
Posts
