Rating: 
Summary: someone did get out alive...
Review: ...and he has quite a story to tell. i don't consider sugarman a great fiction writer. if you want to read a great writer, try to get hold of a copy of "burn down the night" by craig kee strete. sugarman just sticks to the bare facts of his life and experience, and he does a great job by doing so. it's interesting to learn more about morrison from sugarmans perspective, it is interesting to see what iggy pop was like in the early 70ies, and to me it was especially interesting to learn more about ray manzarek and his influence on the band.
it's hard to put this book out of hand after the first 100 pages. and his message is shocking: YES, Morrison was a genius, but NO, he was definitely not a role model.
So don't to become a Rimbaud by amputating your leg...
Rating:
Summary: long before "behing the music"
Review: anyone intertested in the doors, morrison , the 60s, addiction, or rock and roll should read this book. sugarman is a wonderful storyteller! this book is full of details that only someone who's "been there" could relate.
he starts out with is childhood and many priceless stories(having a virual reptile zoo)
then he goes to his concert at age 12....his life changes forever! he's met the doors, and morrison become his role model. arguably not the best role model.
sugarman's life is never the same. he becomes a full blown addict before the age of 20. there are several touching moments(the conversation he has with his father when he learned morrison,his idol, died. and the conversation he has with his brother when he realises if he doesn't get help he will die).
often humorous, and often tragically sad this is a must read for anyone interested in the door,the 60s, or just life. sugarman leaves us with an unfortunate list of fallen vitims of excess (morrison,hendrix,joplin,ect.) it is a miracle his name is not on the list. that's why he wrote this terriffic novel. if not to entertain, to help. thank you danny!
Rating:
Summary: ROCK'S ULTIMATE CAUTIONARY TALE
Review: Danny Sugarman was a 14-year old kid living in the L.A. suburb of Westchester, near LAX. He was troubled, and did not like his step-father. He read an ad or heard about a rock band in Hollywood that was hiring a teenager to answer mail, so he went for and got the job. The band was The Doors. Getting from Westchester to Hollywood by bus is not all that easy, but he did it just about every day. Jim Morrison befriended him and told him not to let his parents addle his brain with Ritalin, an ironic anti-drug message coming from the Lizard King. As a teenager, Sugarman accompanied Morrison on sojourns to the Sunset Strip, where despite his minority he was admitted to the rarified air of The Doors, The Byrds, and other classic California bands. His step-father was appalled. Remarkably, despite his lifestyle, Sugarmnan was good enough at baseball to be offered a scholarship of some kind to play at UCLA, but his commitment to the band tugged at his dedication for the game, so he never went the diamond route. As Morrison went downhill, so too did Sugarman. Unlike the song "No One Here Gets Out Alive", Sugarman managered, barely, to escape. After Jim's death, Sugarman picked himself up and lived in a house on Wonderland Avenue. It was all set up by Ray Manzaerek, the Doors' keyboardist extraordinaire. Manzarek, the "sensible one" among The Doors, wanted to continue the band, or at least his own musical career. Sugarman was hired to be the band's manager, and it was a lucrative life for a guy still in his early 20s. He quickly found himself drawn back into the sordid life of drugs, alcohol, sexual excess, and the like. The Wonderland address did not help, it being a small enclave off of Laurel Canyon, the famed street that connects West Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley. Its narrow canyons and streets are dotted with picturesque homes that embody the California Dream, and are inhabited (especially then) by those artists whose labors have born fruit. The Sharon Tate murders occurred in the general vicinity. Wild, loud parties were so commonplace that neighbors hearing the screams of Charles Manson's victims thought it was just another bash. John Holmes would be involved in a massacre there in the '80s. Later, this would be the area where Heidi Fleiss connected porn with Hollywood money. Sugarman, who eventually would marry Iran-Contra ingenue Fawn Hall, lived with his gorgeous girfriend and lived the life. Aside from The Doors, he also managed the unbeliavable Iggy Pop. Once at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool, Iggy was sunning himself next to "Gilligan's Island" icon Tina Louise. Iggy plopped his manhood from out of his floppy shorts, showed it to Ms. Louise, and asked sardonically if she would care for a shag of the old English sausage. Tina politely declined. The book describes one after the other of Sugarman's friends and associates meeting the Grim Reaper, and in the end he lists pages of names - musicians, producers, groupies, enemies, friends, girfriends, agents, and others - who died of drug overdoses in the pre-AIDS, pre-Cocaine-is-addictive era. The message of this book is that despite glamour and fun, it is essential to be grounded, and one must do whatever he or she can to find that center. (...)
Rating:
Summary: The best book ever.
Review: Fans of the movie "Almost Famous" should thoroughly enjoy this book. The decadent LA rock scene of the late 60's is almost as strong a character in this book as Danny Sugerman is; the reader gets drawn into the turmoil and excitement of both. Sugerman tells of his journey into rock and roll with Jim Morrison, the tragic philosopher/vocalist of the Doors. As a journalist/band manager, Sugerman gets to live the rock lifestyle full force: backstage passes, wild parties, and national tours give way to drug use, sexual hijinks, and general hedonistic debauchery. But Wonderland Avenue is about more than just drug use and "tales of excess", it is about finding strength and meaning in ones life. For Sugerman (as well as many of us out there) music is what gives him his strength, and will to power. Wonderland Avenue is a heartfelt book about experience, passion, and music. Through his detailed and unabashed descriptions, Sugerman proves that so long as you continue to learn and grow, Rock and Roll in it's finest form is worth almost any price.
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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THE DEBAUCHERY OF THE 60'S
Review: I could not put this book down! Sugarman is an amazing writer. He really fleshes out the hedonism and depravity that defined the 60's rock era. The parties, the drugs and booze, the promiscuity, and the tragic results from all of it. Sugarman had two types of hepatitis due to shooting dope. It's a miracle he lived to write about it. A lot of this book revolves around Jim Morrison and The Doors. Morrison considered himself to be a deep philosopher/poet genius (he did in fact have a high IQ) and decreed early on that he would not live to see 30. Despite his intellectual gifts, Morrison quickly became a caricature of himself - boozy, bloated, and strung out. This book is edgy and definitely insightful. Sugarman writes in a no-holds-barred fashion and the language is not for the faint of heart. Recommended for anyone interested in the 60's music scene.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: I read this book when I was in high school and recently read it again. Surprisingly, this book changed my mind about experimenting with drugs at a young age. The depths of Danny Sugerman's addiction and the toll that it took on his body were enough to scare me into never trying hard drugs. Ever. This book is very well written and worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Deadbeat Loser Rich Kid Hanger On
Review: I think I must be a glutton for punishment. Let me explain: I knew, for instance, that I would not enjoy the Howard Marks' book. Did that stop me reading it? No. Did I find each of my expectations met (in terms of it being the story of a public schoolboy bumbling through life in a public schoolboy, old boy's network of chums all at variance with the law, oh me oh my kind of way)? Yes. Did it appear when cool was mainstream (when "Trainspotting"-mania was at its height and everybody was cool, baby)? Yes. Was Howards Marks and "Trainspotting" ever cool? Only to people unfamiliar with Burroughs or Kelman or Sabbag. "Wonderland Avenue" is that all over. Oh me oh my, I was rich, I took drugs, I took more drugs than I should have done, I hung out with the Doors, I nearly died from all the drugs I took, I learned my lesson, I love life. Remove the acquaintance with the Doors (themselves the single most over-rated band in the history of over-rated bands) from the equation and what you have here is: rich kid does bad. I mean, who cares? Maybe we live in a day and age now when we are so overwhelmed with information, when it is no longer possible for celebrities to maintain a Joan Crawford style aura of mystery, that self-abuse stories need to plumb greater depths. I don't know. I just know that - pretty much from the off - I loathed and detested everything about this book. "Wonderland Avenue" is "The Doors of Perception" rewritten by Keanu Reeves (except at least Keanu Reeves has done SOMETHING worthwhile in his life). This is a book that should have been called Deadbeat Loser Rich Kid Hanger On.
Rating:
Summary: oh show me the way to the next whisky bar.....
Review: Perhaps the myths of glamour and never ending hapiness in the music industry will soon be dispelled by reading Sugermans tale. Although we envy the glamorous life style, the theme so often touched on in this book, we realize the downfall and the end results when diregarding the future. Danny's story should be required reading for young people experementing with drugs. It also happens to be one of the most well written pieces I have read in a long while.
Rating: 
Summary: drugs and excess
Review: the first time i read this book i was only a teenager and i don't remember reading it again for years. i don't even recall how this book came into my possession but i know i was grateful for it. i'd led a sheltered life and to read about someone's account of their painful existence was an eye-opener for me. this book may not be for everyone but it paved the way for my way of thinking today and i'm glad it landed in my hands. not being a big fan of jim morrison probably gave me a more objective view towards danny sugerman because i wasn't likely to think that this was all about sugerman's obsession with morrison or the band. i read it as a raw account of sugerman's life from when he was an adolescent into adulthood, and his realisation that there was more out there for him than just drugs and excess. most of his friends are dead today. the fact that he's alive is amazing given what he's put his body through. i have to read this book again soon.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This has got to be one of the best books I have ever read. The book is based on the life of Danny Sugerman as he was growing up. He slowly became involved with The Doors and especially Jim Morrison. After Jim dies, Danny's life takes a fast downwards spiral. Alcohol and drugs never seem to be enough for him. This is one of those great books that you can visualize and you never want to put it down.
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