Rating: 
Summary: DAMN WONDERFUL JOB!
Review: I really enjoyed this book even my Mother-n-law read it and agreed. She grew up in the 60's and remembers The Doors and thought it was a tragic loss to lose Jim and Pam at a young age. Pamela was such a pretty girl and I'm glad to see that Patricia Butler did'nt dwell on her drug habbit. Also, this book had the best pictures I've seen yet of Pamela and Jim. I think Patricia Butler did a damn wonderful job !
Rating:
Summary: Simply Wonderful
Review: I read the nasty comments of the last "anonymous" reviewer from California (isn't it funny how the nasty comments always come from people who don't give their names?) and I wondered if that person had read the same book I did. I found "Angels Dance and Angels Die" to be far, far from a "Harlequin Romance". The prose is straightforward, clearn, and logical, with a minimum of fuss and frills, which makes it a fast read, impossible to put down. Beyond that, I learned things about Jim Morrison I'd never read anywhere else. This is the first time I've seen his humorous, kind, thoughtful side given equal emphasis as his alcoholism and other problems. It's also the first time that those problems were put into perspective by filling in the years before he became famous, providing context and making his later actions easier to understand. As well, this is the first book that's ever given Pamela her due -- as an equal and often stronger partn! er in a union that may have been shaken by the personal problems of both lovers, but still remained strong against outside forces threatening to pull the two apart. I understand now what Jim and Pam saw in and meant to each other. Their shared history makes all the groupies and other women still, oddly, fighting to claim Jim's affection (he's dead, ladies -- move on) seem incredibly trivial in comparison. This is a thoughtful, knowledgeable book, and the years of research the writer put into its construction really shows. The book is incredibly well-referenced and believeable, fair, often funny, touching, and ultimately sad. I came away not only with a more detailed picture of a man I'd always admired, but also an appreciation of the woman he loved so much and an understanding of their fast lives in tumultuous times. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of paper
Review: A Harlequin romance (complete with over the top prose) pretending to be biography. Poorly organized, overly sentimental, with messy if not suspicious research and unsound conclusions, this fails to present Jim and Pam's relationship as anything other than what one finds with most dysfunctional, alcoholic couples. No remarkable revelations, and neither individual comes much to life. Falls into usual trap of so many Jim Morrison bios; at the end, one wonders why anyone should care about him.
Rating: 
Summary: Extensive research and genuine heart makes this a keeper.
Review: If the fact that Patricia Butler spent hundreds of hours researching ANGELS DANCE AND ANGELS DIE does not impress you, if the fact that she endured a swell of death threats and hate mail doesn't intrigue you, if the thought of the ill-fated romance of Doors front man Jim Morrison and his "cosmic mate" Pamela Courson doesn't at least make you curious, breeze by this deftly written work. If those three elements send your mind drifting towards a craving for nostalgic discovery, you'll consider the $27.00 cover price money well invested. Butler not only explores the obvious --- how ego and illegal substances can really put a kink in your romantic radar --- she delves into the how and why behind the excess, shattering some myths, laying new ground work for others. Morrison fans will love or hate ANGELS DANCE AND ANGELS DIE. But they'll be well fed, no matter how the toss of the Doors dice lands. And either way, it's a book not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: The best book about Morrison to date..
Review: After reading "No One Here Gets Out Alive" in 1980, a book that(with my recollection)falsely lead people to believe that Jim Morrison could possibly be "alive and well and living in Africa", and John Densmore's book "Riders on The Storm", a book that I found to be depressing, I found Patricia Butler's obviously well researched book to be wonderfully written. She captures the funny, emotional, and tender side of both Jim and Pamela with the help of friends, family, and collegues of both subjects. The stories that Jim's college buddies told her about him while he was a college student are absolutely hillarious. As a Doors fan, I was tired of hearing "horrible" Jim stories. Everyone has a bad and a good side to them. Although the author does portray a little bit of their drug, alcohol use etc., it is not focused entirely on those issues, which to me, is a welcome breath of fresh air. If any of you reading this has been to Patricia Kennealy's web site, this book does not trash Jim. I think PK is upset because the book was not about her. I recommend this book highly.
Rating:
Summary: At last, a look at Pamela and Jim without needless hype
Review: At last, we get a real glimpse into the lives of Jim and Pamela Morrison without all the hype that so often fictionalizes celebrety. This is the first book that really lets us know who Jim and Pamela were, what events shaped their lives and gives real insight into their vulnerabilities and humanity. I found Angels Dance and Angels Die to be a demystifying reading experience. These bigger-than-life characters were very human, extraordinarily sensitive, often very likeable while walking through life to the distant beat of their own drummers. Jim and Pamela were two young people, very much in love, and terribly overwhelmed by the fame that engulfed them. This reader found Angels Dance and Angels Die to be a fascinating and somewhat classic tragedy. Jim and Pamela almost succeeded in in thier quest to find peace. Hats off to Patricia Butler for her compelling, objective biography.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Surprise
Review: Thanks to Patricia Butler I now know what was going on in the 60s and 70s while i was raising babies and learning how to cook. That I missed out on the the formation of a cultural change has now been remedied.by reading ANGELS DANCE AND ANGELS DIE. Writen in a sensitive narrative style, Ms. Butler has given me a chance to recapture some of my own feelings during those years. I didn't know Jim or Pam, but I do now. A great read if you're a DOORS fan or not.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time someone write this story!
Review: Angels Dance and Angels Die is a fascinating tale about the tragic romance of Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson. I am truly impressed with the extensive research Patricia Butler conducted in writing this story and with her conviction and ability to maintain the integrity of events in Jim and Pamela's lives. Her determination to present the facts and dispel the rumors which have plagued the memories of these two people should be applauded. This book is a compelling read and like, "No One Gets Out Alive," it depicts the reality of the times... no holds barred. I would recommend this book not only to those who are DOORS fans, but also to anyone interested in the events of the time. I expect to see this book on the New York Times bestseller list in the near future.
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: The Best Morrison Bio Yet
Review: This is without a doubt the best, most entertaining, most enlightening book I've ever read about Jim Morrison -- and I've read them all. The author seems to have taken great pains to present information fairly, not judging the subjects, but letting their own actions and words speak for them. I learned so much about Jim I never knew before, and was especially thrilled to get some real information about Pamela for the first time ever. No other book I've read has taken so much time and care in not only telling us what these people did, but trying to go back in their histories and explain why they did them. This is a great read -- the most worthwhile Morrison bio ever -- and I've been enthusiastically recommending it to all my friends.
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