Rating: 
Summary: A Black&White 8mm film, handcolored and tragically lovely
Review: I take a rather personal interest in ANGELS DANCE& ANGELS DIE, as I was aware of the book since it's beginnings. I was honored to read a few chapters as they were being fine-tuned by the author, and I must say the finished product was even better than I'd expected. Patricia Butler obviously did her homework on this, seeking out childhood pals of Jim's whose stories, until now, had remained untold. There are wonderful pics, as well, many of which had never been published. As an aside, I need to mention a strange brouhaha that has arisen around ANGELS DANCE & ANGELS DIE: the rantings of Jim's Witchwife, Patricia Kennealy Morrison, online and elsewhere, have served to make this book ALL THAT MORE APPEALING. She accuses Ms Butler of vilifying her late husband, Jim, but this book did NOTHING of the sort. It did show the deep love that Jim & Pam shared ~ something which Mz Kennealy-Morrison apparantly cannot handle. At least not with any show of grace. This disappoints me no end, as I found Kennealy's book wonderful ~ another side of the Story, but certainly not the ONLY side. I've been a Doors fan for decades and read everything I can get my eyeballs on about them, and Jim Morrison, especially. As Jerry Hopkins said in his blurb, if he'd written another book about Jim, ANGELS DANCE & ANGELS DIE would have been it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: Patricia Butler's book touches upon a subject that has not been addressed at great length: the relationship between Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson. Although the couple stills seems a bit elusive after the book is finished, it is an entertaining and worthwhile read. Some of the anecdotes told within the book seem a bit more fantastic than others, but one must be aware of the nature of the sources that are used within the book, from which the stories are taken. For example, one of the sources is noted as possibly being a questionable source, but is then utilized in other areas of the book to supply additional anecdotes. The tales of Jim and Pamela take into account both the nostalgic and stringent sides of their relationship. Although not every avenue of possibilities is explored by the author, there are some wonderful anecdotes offered by people who knew the couple, which are not found in previously published books that focus upon the Doors and Jim Morrison. I'd definitely recommend this book highly to anyone who is interested in the Doors and the life of the ever enigmatic Jim Morrison. The book certainly is not the 'last word' on the topic, but it provides an enjoyable account of insights from people who were there. There is no reason why one should not read this book. Overall, it is a delightful book that any Doors' lover should read, particularly for the interesting tales that are told within the book.
Rating:
Summary: a poet & his muse
Review: at first i wasn't too impressed with this book because i felt it was poorly written & found it difficult to read... but i chose to continue & am glad i did. finally, some justice for pamela. & to those upset that it didn't mention jim's other lovers, or patricia... have you forgotten this book clearly states ON THE COVER it's about the two of them?
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: The Pamela Morrison stuff was the least interesting. I found the bits about Jim that I hadn't seen in other biographies the interesting points. There have been suggestions about Morrison's gay experimenting in other books, but this book gives a bit more detail about the circumstances under which they took place. Also, why he hated his parents: he said he once told his mother when he was a boy, that he had been molested, and she didn't believe him, and he hated her after that. The book isn't that well written, but the author did research where other Morrison biographers haven't, and it's those new facts that make this an interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Tragic!
Review: I thought Patricia Butler added new insight into Jim and Pam's life together. I have read nearly all the books written on Jim Morrison and The Doors and I believe this book is the best one yet on the romance of Jim and Pam. After 6 years of research, I believe Ms. Butler did an incredible job! And, for a change, we were able to learn a bit more about their lives growing up and what made them "tick". This book has given me my first "peaceful" feeling about Jim and Pam's romance and puts all the negativity written about them to rest. They truly were the Romeo and Juliet of their time!
Rating:
Summary: a poet & his muse
Review: at first i wasn't too impressed with this book because i felt it was poorly written & found it difficult to read... but i chose to continue & am glad i did. finally, some justice for pamela. & to those upset that it didn't mention jim's other lovers, or patricia... have you forgotten this book clearly states ON THE COVER it's about the two of them?
Rating: 
Summary: Just trying to make money
Review: There were, and still are many beliefs about Jim's life. All this book does is exploid those beliefs.
Rating:
Summary: Cosmic Angels
Review: A beatifully written and thoroughly research book. The author has done her homework and includes references to all the interviewees and plenty of documentory evidence.
Whatever loves Jim may have had, Pam was the constant one, the one who was with him right up until the end. I know what it's like to love and hate the same person and yet remain constantly drawn to them. The two people were very young; they were both troubled souls but there is no doubt that they loved each other. Jim could have had any woman he wanted and most often did, but that was just f******. When that was over he returned to his mate, friend, confidant, muse, lover, cosmic equal that was Pam.
Patricia Keneeley is just a very bitter woman - lets face it, who wouldn't be if they had loved and lost such a beautiful and sexy man!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad, Considering The Individuals in Question
Review: Although 'Angels' is very well researched, and at times I found myself unable to put it down, I kept being reminded over-and-over-and-over that I was basically reading a biography on 2 losers! Rock star status exploded in Morrison's face following the debut and during the Strange Days sessions, which, by the way, most was written during the same time period as the material for the 1st album. That's why The Doors' first 2 albums are pure art and everything following was blah blah blah blah blah. And very sadly, the music...THE MUSIC was the fall guy That's what suffered. And it wasn't just Morrison...it was all 4 of the Doors who were affected so terribly by it. This book goes behind the scenes of why the music went so badly. And isn't that what it's all about? THE MUSIC! This is a tale of a man and woman ripped apart by dope and alcohol and superstardom with the same ultimate fate for both....which has NOTHING to do with the music. There is a clear distinction between artistry and 'stardom'. I recommend this as very entertaining. But understand who these people were at the onset.
Rating:
Summary: Patricia Butler did her homework!!!
Review: This book was so interesting, I finished it in a few days. Couldn't put it down. This is not a "fairytale". This is a book Ms. Butler obviously did a lot of research on. There's an extensive SOURCES section at the end of the book. For each chapter, everyone she interviewed, every source, is listed. Ray and Dorothy Manzarek, Robby Krieger, Julia Densmore-Negron, Bill (former Doors manager) Siddons, and many otheres in the Doors camp, too many to list here, are interviewed. People who knew Jim and Pam as far back as elementary school are interviewed. It makes for a very interesting read. Since so many people who knew Jim and Pam are constantly quoted, this book never feels like a delusional fairytale. It's not the biased POV of a single individual with an axe to grind, it's the words of MANY people who knew Jim and Pam for years. The book didn't tell me anything about Pam's favorite bands, but I did get a sense of what drew her and Morrison together. They both came off as sort of "outcasts" in highschool, rebels who didn't fit in and refused to conform. There's consistency here. So many people described Pam as "sweet", but also someone gutsy enough to stand up to Jim if she had to. The book also gets into Jim's pattern with other women. A pattern of using other women as sounding boards to vent his frustrations with Pam, stringing these women along with poetry, letters, books, lots of attention, then returning to Pam. One of these women, named Anne, is interviewed. Her story reminded me a lot of Patricia Kennealy's, only without all the self-importance and bitterness. Anne wisely learned not to take Jim too seriously. There are some very interesting interviews in here. I started reading "Strange Days" by Patricia Kennealy before this book. So imagine my surprise when Babe Hill is interviewed in "Angels Dance" and talks about a woman who came to FL during Jim's trial, claiming she was pregnant and married to Jim. Babe doesn't mention any names, but this interested me very much! Anyway, Babe goes on to ask Jim if it's true he's married, Jim tells him possibly, he doesn't know, he was drunk, and there were no feelings for this woman. This isn't something Butler "made up", this is what Babe Hill told her when he was interviewed. Leon Barnard, the Doors European publicist, recalls the last conversation he had with Jim. "He said that Pamela had gotten under his skin, that she was his cosmic mate. He considered her to be his cosmic counterpart. He felt that he couldn't live without her, that she was the one he always returned to and she was the compliment to his existence". This isn't a made-up fairytale. It's Leon Barnard, someone who knew Jim personally, being interviewed by Patricia Butler. People who have no agenda and nothing to gain. People who witnessed Pam grieving during the aftermath of Morrison's death are interviewed. If you put it all together, along with John Densmore's book "Riders on the Storm", and Ray Manzarek's book "Light My Fire", you get a pretty good picture. While Pamela is hardly the ruthless black widow certain ex-flings of Morrison would have us believe, it seems to be common knowledge in the Doors camp Jim got into Pam's stash. I've read Marianne Faithfull's book, and she talks about her boyfriend (Count Jean, also a flame of Pam's) being summoned to Jim and Pam's apartment. This seems to corroborate what John Densmore learned in his book. Marianne says Jean was a dealer who provided the smack Jim took. I won't buy Butler's "death by asthma" theory! Everything else Butler digs up is much more believable. Such as the revelations in the un-published manuscripts of Max Fink, Jim's lawyer. As for Pam being a "junkie", Butler dug up the actual autopsy report on Pam. Seems Pam was a serious dabbler, not a serious junkie, when she died. I think the coroner is less biased than certain bitter, ex-flings of Morrison who resented Pamela. Butler's overall research is quite impressive. I recommend this book to any Doors fan, right along with books by Manzarek and Densmore!
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