The Poet In Exile

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Having read this pile of shit I would recommend it to Doors fans as how else will you realise Ray was not very good at anything except music, which he was brilliant at.



liveDaily Interview: Ray Manzarek of the Doors
by Don Zulaica

In his first book, "Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors" (Putnam, 1998), keyboardist Ray Manzarek gave an insightful look into that band's engaging, and often tumultuous, history.

Now, with the recently released novel "The Poet In Exile" (Avalon), the writer-producer-musician picks up where the non-fiction left off, and hypothesizes about how the life of Doors vocalist Jim Morrison might have played out.
The story begins when Roy, a rock organist, receives a cryptic postcard from the South Sea Islands bearing the signature "J." Is it a prank? More correspondence flows in, and Roy starts to seriously wonder if his former band mate Jordan, an iconic vocalist and poet, is actually buried in Paris after all.

Manzarek spoke with LiveDaily's Don Zulaica about it.

LiveDaily: So, the Cliff Notes version of your novel would be ...

Ray Manzarek: This is the story of a rock star who stages his own death. He is not actually buried in an artists-and-poets cemetery in Paris, as people have believed. He has left town for the hinterlands, where he is going to go on a search for his enlightenment, his reason for being.

How long did you work on this?

It took a year and a half to write.

Had you done a lot of fiction writing before?

I've written a lot of film scripts, so this was a natural extension of writing film scripts, and just expanding a script to actually become a novel. It's actually much more fun writing a novel than a story for a script. Film scripts are like shorthand, [where in a novel], you get to write virtually full sentences.

How was this different from your first book, the biographical "Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors?"

Well, that was an autobiography about what actually happened, unlike the Oliver Stone film. This was even more fun than doing that. "Light My Fire" was like revisiting past events, this was like creating new events and watching them take place in front of my eyes. I'm watching a movie go by and I'm writing it as fast as I possibly can.

The obvious question out of this is, what's real and what's Memorex?

Exactly. This book is a work of fiction. All of the things that happened in the past are real. All the things that happened from the staging of the death in Paris, on, are fiction. So it's a combination of truth and fiction.

What motivated the writing of the book were all the stories of Jim Morrison still being alive. So I thought, I'm going to make it, "He is alive. Here you are. You're right, he didn't die! My God, he did stage his own death." But this takes it beyond that, into what would have happened to him had he been alive. So what I've done is I've given Jim Morrison the rest of his life, his adulthood, the next 30 years. He died at 27, so he never got to live the rest of his life, so I tried to do that for him.

You've obviously been putting pen to paper for a while. How long have you been really serious about it?

Serious? Ten years.

Who are some writers you admire? Who made you want to get serious?

John Steinbeck, D.H. Lawrence, Tennessee Williams, and Ernest Hemingway. You know, just all the great writers I've read.

Did any newer books pertaining to the music industry influence you? Did you base your writing approach on other people who have written about music?

No, I don't base my approach on anything to do with the music industry. I base my approach on ... John Steinbeck. [laughs] I try to base my approach on Steinbeck, new ideas of Lawrence, and Hemingway, as much as I possibly can. I'm not really involved in reading books on the music industry. I'm not concerned about that. I'd rather enjoy the music, you know?

February 07, 2002

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

My TheDoors4Scorpywag review of Rays novel which amazingly (and I do not make this up) was actually linked to as a review on the Manzarek /McClure site on the PIE section. Denise a nice lady there sorted me out a couple of Ray/Mike albums and said she would link to the site . I was flaberghasted when i saw she had linked to this.....funny thing was mine was one of the better reviews Ray could find......never found out if he read it....maybe Mike White sent him a copy. To be honest in hindsight I think I was too nice.....

The Poet In Exile: Ray Manzarek
I really did want to enjoy this book as I have a great respect and admiration for Ray and having looked forward to it since it was first spoken of on the internet I was delighted when my copy made it’s way to my door.
Then I began to read it….
At first I could not believe how badly written these first few chapters were and expected the book to take off after maybe a third of the way through but sadly was overly optimistic. The plot (now that is a laugh as the Jurassic Park movies have more of a plot than P.I.E.) went something like this……
Roy misses the late lead singer Jody (the Snake Man-Yaaawnn) and receives mysterious messages from the Seychelles signed ‘J’. A promising start but not expanded in any way that is worthy of interest.
Roy then jets off to the Seychelles, and begins to work for the local travel board as the rest of the book reads more like a travel guide than an actual novel, in search of aforementioned ‘J’ and upon landing has the most extraordinary strokes of luck in bumping into first the ‘Poets’ son and later ‘The Poet’ himself triggering off a chain of events which culminate in some of the most mind numbingly boring conversations in literary history.
Ray turns Jim into a complete doyle who blathers on about the wonders of God, the universe and the reason for being…. just like all the terminally dull drunks you get stuck with at a party at about 2. 30 in the morning and are too pissed to crawl away from. He even has the cheek to write poetry and lyrics for ‘The Poet’ which are so clichéd and banal that even a child would be embarrassed claiming credit for them.
It’s sad that Ray never got the chance to have all the silly conversations that he would have liked to have with Jim who was too busy and far too clever to get drawn into them when he was alive but to subject us to them now is worse than ‘Chinese Water Torture’ and personally as I read on I was silently praying that one of the protagonists would fall over drunk so ending this particular phase of the story but nobody did to my chagrin.
He turns the history of the worlds greatest band into a mockery of second rate ‘Soap Opera’. Even more criminal, because he was a very worthy part of that history, he cannot even bring himself to credit the other Doors with decent fake names. We have Denny Sullivan (how original!) the new manager, Tim Bladd the LA DJ, Dog the drinking buddy (hypocritically stolen from Olly Stone’s movie) Phil Simmons the old manager but Robby and John are referred to cryptically as ‘the drummer’ and ‘the guitar player’ throughout the whole of this pointless exercise.
The ‘revelation’ when it comes at the end is so blindingly obvious that you ought to be ashamed if you don’t see it after the first couple of dozen pages.
Ray proved with ‘Light My Fire’ that he could write and Jim as well as we Doors fans deserved better than this lazy excuse for a novel which quite frankly a dyslexic blind monkey could have written better. I don’t know how many trees died to make this book happen but it was not worthy of ‘one’ leaf.
Basically the worst book I have read over the last 35 years and Ray should hang his head in shame to have his name associated with it.. AP.

Scorpywag Rating 0/10. Total bullshit!!
TheDoors4Scorpywag Summer 2002

[ensenada]

dont hold back there dude, tell us what you think! lol
I aint read the book, but it does sound rather dull. I have to read it though to check it out myself. Its so funny that ray couldnt even be bothered with being even slightly original with the names. I mean he says its nothing to do with the doors dosnt he? then why does he blatantly want it to be about jim by calling him jody and the other dude Roy, i mean bloody roy!? what sort of a rock n roll name is roy for fucks sake!? lol
old rozzer goes looking for jody. its just another story to keep us hooked on the mystery of jims death. do you think roy, I mean ray believes jim is still around somewhere?

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

I Think Roy...er i mean R$ay would believe anything if it suited his greed and ego....

[ensenada]

trouble with ray is he simply feeds the lunatics who already believe jim has faked his death and retired to some sodding small island of zanzibar!! what would jim actually be doing on his remote island anyway? i mean the dude is pretty legendary today all over the world, it would be fairly impossible for even a mud hut kiddy wink not to realise who this dude was. I wonder what jim would look like now? his beard wont be there i dont think....chrsit look at me! you know what i is sayin!

[darkstar]

RAY MANZAREK
SANTA BARBARA BORDERS BOOK STORE
By: John Dickson

"Includes 9 1/2 minutes of streaming video"

Ray Manzarek was keyboardist with The Doors from the late 1960's until lead singer Jim Morrison's death in the early 1970's.

Today he is stopping in Santa Barbara at Borders Bookstore promoting his book "The Poet in Exile."

Ray spent an hour with hundreds of fans, telling stories from his days with The Doors and playing several classic tunes.

Stories include:

Opening to wild crowds in Madison Square Garden and being blinded by flashbulbs before they have even finished setting up their equipment

A short story about how the Grateful Dead refused to let The Doors borrow equipment for a concert

Jim Morrison's arrest for indecent exposure during a Florida concert

Jim Morrison's death in Paris in the early 1970's

Web Videos

Ray on keyboards playing Riders on the Storm (5MB, 60 seconds, .mpg
format)


Ray talks about conflicts with the Grateful Dead in Santa Barbara
in the 1960's (5MB, 60 seconds)


Ray tells a story about Jim Morrison's arrest for indecent exposure
during a Florida concert (5MB, 3.5 minutes)


Ray on keyboards playing Light My Fire (5MB, 4 minutes)

Source:
www.santabarbara.com/community/familiar_faces/ray_manzarek/

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Yeah I saved those clips to disc and they are rather enjoyable. Would be nice to see him back in the bookstores again!

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Doors Keyboardist Pens Novel About Morrison Reunion
Band Mate's Fictional Tale Finds Morrison Alive

When Doors singer Jim Morrison died in Paris in 1971, it should have been the end for the band whose music and mystic he was inextricably linked. Neither Morrison nor the Doors have ever been left in peace.

As soon as a coffin bearing Morrison's name was buried in Paris' Pére Lachaise cemetery, rumors and conspiracy theories began to pop up that the legendary frontman, notorious boozer and poet had faked his own death.

Added to this -- and to most people's surprise -- the remaining Doors continued to record together without their leader before finally disbanding. Despite the split, the Doors was never something they completely walked away from.

Outside the Doors, the band members remained in the music business, but have been met with limited success. Faring best was keyboardist Ray Manzarek (pictured, right), who's enjoyed high-profile working relationships with L.A. punk godfathers X and poets like Michael McClure and Jim Carroll.

Not surprisingly then, the group members have managed to revisit those strange days with the Lizard King through books and movie projects. (The band has also jumped at the chance to reunite on several occasions. Their latest regrouping was for an episode of VH-1's "Storytellers" last year where the band was joined by a batch of Morrison wannabes.)

Offering an intriguing glimpse into his fantasies, Manzarek has followed up his 1998 autobiography, "Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors," with his first novel, "The Poet In Exile." The premise is familiar.

The book follows a rock keyboardist named “Roy” who discovers that the stories about his band's iconic singer (named "Jordan") -- who died supposedly in Paris -- are true. The novel's plot tackles the obvious questions: Where would he be now? What would he be doing?

The two ex-band mates hook up on a Pacific island 30 years after his "death," clear the air and share their experiences. Manzarek's adjective-heavy language and clunky use of pronouns is obtrusive at times (instead of calling characters by their real name or continuing to use pseudonyms, he awkwardly refers to them as "the Poet," or "the guitar player"), but he offers an amusing answer to the "what ifs…"

Recently, Sound Bytes spoke with Manzarek about his book and what else he's been up to:

Sound Bytes: When did you first start writing the book?

Manzarek: Two years ago. Two hours a day in the morning, three times a week.

SB: What is it that you really wanted to say with this book?

M: The act of spiritual enlightenment is available to all of us. As it is available to "the Poet" in the book.

SB: Over the years, you've probably heard dozens of stories about Jim Morrison being alive and up to something. What are some of the weirder ones?

M: Weird is good. Jim is in Africa and he's associated with gun runners. Or Jim is the Outback in Australia with a broken leg. And this guy said to me, "Please send me $1,500 and I'll bring him out." Needless to say, I didn't send $1,500 to someone in Australia.

SB: Since the Doors, you've had other writer-collaborators like poets Michael McClure and Jim Carroll. Was this book a chance to see how the other half lives?

M: This was my chance to collaborate with Jim Morrison on a book. We have long discussions in the book about his past life and his future life.

SB: How do you respond to those who'd say that part of the reason you wrote this book was to drum up attention for the "Jim is alive" myth and to boost record sales?

M: I would tell them to go to the devil. That way of thinking is bad Freud. It shows how low we can fall as Americans in a greedy, consumer society.

SB: What is it that still excites you about the Doors? What continues to make it a positive experience instead of a burdensome legacy?

M: The sheer joy of the music. And the fact that I can say "psychedelic" in an interview and also opening the doors of perception. Not exactly a thing one hears today.

SB: Would you ever imagine that this book would become a movie?

M: It could. It would make a damn good film.

SB: I read that you're involved in satellite radio?

M: Yes. I'm one of the DJs for Sirius Satellite Radio. I'm one of the classic rock guys.

SB: Do you feel comfortable being lumped into classic rock? Do you feel classic rock?

M: They lump you. (Laughs) That's what happens in America, you get lumped.

SB: Was there anything to the rumors that after the Doors reunited for "Storytellers," you'd do a tour?

M: We are. We'd probably do something like the VH-1 show (with different vocalists). It's still on the drawing board.

SB: Do you have other books in mind for the future?

M: Yes. A road story in which three (University of California-Los Angles) students on spring break go out to the desert in Arizona to search out peyote. And they find it.

SB: Was writing the book a good experience then?

M: It was a very good experience and I will write more novels. This is the beginning of my new career as a novelist-composer-musician-filmmaker-gourmet.

SB: Sounds like you've got all the bases covered.

by David Hyland
TheMilwaukeeChannel.com. 2002

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

24-1-2002

26-1-2002
The Boston Globe