Jim Morrison: Dark Star

by Dylan Jones

Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of his death, a fully illustrated, no-holds-barred biography of the quintessential sixties rock star: an enigmatic, egotistical sex symbol who pushed himself--and his audiences--to the limits. Includes 65 full-color and 65 black-and-white photographs.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 1990

About the author

Dylan Jones studied at Chelsea School Of Art and then St. Martin’s School of Art. He is the award-winning editor of GQ magazine, a position he has held since 1999, and has won the British Society of Magazine Editors “Editor of the Year” award a record ten times. In 2013 he was also the recipient of the prestigious Mark Boxer Award.
Under his editorship the magazine has won over 50 awards.
A former editor at i-D, The Face, Arena, the Observer and the Sunday Times, he is the author of the New York Times best seller Jim Morrison: Dark Star, the much-translated iPod, Therefore I Am and Mr. Jones’ Rules, as well as the editor of the classic collection of music writing, Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy. He edited a collection of journalism from Arena - Sex, Power & Travel - and collaborated with David Cameron on Cameron on Cameron: Conversations with Dylan Jones (shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year).
He was the Chairman of the Prince’s Trust’s Fashion Rocks Monaco, is a board member of the Norman Mailer Writers Colony and a Trustee of the Hay Festival. He is also the chairman of London Fashion Week: Men’s, London’s first men’s fashion week, launched in 2012 at the behest of the British Fashion Council.
In 2010 he spent a week in Afghanistan with the Armed Forces, collaborating on a book with the photographer David Bailey: British Heroes in Afghanistan.
In 2012 he had three books published: The Biographical Dictionary of Music; When Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie and Four Minutes that Shook the World, and the official book of U2’s 360 Tour, published in October. Since then he has published
The Eighties: One Day One Decade, a book about the 1980s told through the prism of Live Aid, Elvis Has Left The Building: The Day The King Died, Mr. Mojo, London Rules, a polemic about the greatest city in the world, Manxiety and London Sartorial.
In June 2013 he was awarded an OBE for services to publishing and the fashion industry. In 2014 he was made an Honorary Professor of Glasgow Caledonian University.

Reviews

[El lector de l'antifaç · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Jim Morrison. Dark star” es un libro escrito por Dylan Jones y publicado en 1991. Se trata de una excelente biografiá del cantante y lider de The Doors, Jim Morrison. Cuenta, además con magníficas fotografiás de Morrison y del grupo.

Jim Morrison fue y es todavía un icono del Rock, en el presente trabajo, Dylan Jones hace todo un recorrido exhaustivo por la vida de Jim Morrison y su grupo The Doors. Cuenta tanto las genialidades del cantante como sus aspectos negativos. Se trata pues, de una biografía objetiva y veraz de la vida del genial y carismático líder de The Doors.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this as a birthday present in the 8th grade, near the peak of my Jim Morrison obsession, and I still love it. The biographical info is so-so, but the photos are great.

Honestly, I think I value this more for pure sentimental reasons and all the memories it brings back of me being an extremely young teen sneaking into the Whiskey A GoGo and taking the bus down to Venice Beach to pay rock and roll homage. (Of course, none of these antics would have occurred if I had listened to New Kids on the Block or whatever was actually on the radio at the time.) In any case, good for Jim Morrison fans everywhere.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just horrid.

[Freddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is notable for its photographs; better biographies can be found elsewhere.

[Tatiana Fajardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting biography of Jim Morrison, it depicts him in various ways. I especially liked Morrison described as an intellectual, as a man who fought to be seen as something else than a handosome rock star. I missed a deeper research on his literary interests though, I consider it could enlighten more his figure.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jim Morrison was significantly flawed as a performer, writer and human being. Anyone who has read with any depth about his life would probably not argue with that sentiment. But the prose in Dark Star is so slanted and bombastic that one wonders as to the motive$ of Dylan Jones, who clearly despises Morrison and the aura surrounding him by some in the fan base all these years later.

This is not a defense of Morrison. The music of the Doors endures because of its brilliance, despite the obstacles Morrison's life and behavior presented to getting it on record.

This book is filled with conjecture, fabrication, embellishment, and laugh-out-loud comic book caricatures and lies. If Jones is to be believed, Morrison never had a sober and thoughtful moment in his life after 1968. This might be half true, but not completely. And if Jones is to be believed, then the myth he ridicules only grows among the wasted. A nice little literary gaffe.

It is incredibly ironic that Jones rails on the mythmaking that Morrison himself created around his persona, and then could not escape. Because this book is filled with dozens of photos of Morrison in that 'young lion' acid induced phase of his career, including the most infamous photo of all (the crucifixion pose) on the cover. I'm sure the cover and photos within this book helped to sell product in a sell-out book. Jones writes that Morrison was an amateur human being; again the irony is interesting coming from an amateur author.

[Fatima Sevivas Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photos were amazing.

[Keith Astbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm...an OK Jim book but nothing more x

[Jillian · Rating 1 out of 5]

not reccomended.