Books like Angels Dance and Angels Die: The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison

After "No One Here Gets Out Alive" laid bare the hedonistic and troubled history of Jim Morrison and the Doors, it seemed all available information had been served up for the public appetite and there was nothing left to say. Numerous volumes on the topic followed but most only echoed what had already been said. For nearly three decades, "No One Here" has remained the ultimate guide to the enigmatic singer and his long-suffering band.It feels vaguely traitorous to say so but I'm going to do it anyway: "Angels Dance and Angels Die" may be the most gripping and insightful book yet on the subject of Morrison and his screaming shaman's dance through rock and roll history. Where the earlier work provided a chronicle of the band's rise to the top and more than a few glimpses behind the stage curtains, "Angels Dance" achieves something more significant. It studies the motivations, flaws and personal history that made Jim Morrison the kind of man and artist whose popularity continues to mushroom nearly four decades after his death.Much of Patricia Butler's beautifully written book focuses on the stormy relationship between Jim and his cosmic mate Pamela Courson. But it is more than a blow-by-blow photo album of dish hurling fights and lurid infidelities. Butler writes with unflagging objectivity and offers up her views only when those views are supported by sources who knew Jim or Pam or both as intimately as anyone alive. The result is a book that's both illuminating and powerful, a rock and roll love story like none ever told.My wife is a mild Doors fan who mostly tolerates my own tenacious adoration of the group. She has no interest in "No One Here Gets Out Alive" or any of the numerous rockographies that followed it. "Angels Dance" appeals to her though, because it is a story of genuine love that exists in spite of the many pitfalls of the rock and roll universe, which is not a place that has proven friendly to enduring romance. With that kind of broader audience, Butler's book may prove to be durable as well, and deservedly so. She reports and writes with the flair of a seasoned journalist yet there is no shortage of drama and poetry here. "Angels Dance and Angels Die" should be regarded as essential reading for anyone who remains fascinated by the Morrison legend. From the first page to the last, this one is as intriguing, mysterious and brilliant as the notes from Ray Manzarek's keyboard.