Customer Reviews

Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

This book is either a beautiful love story and insightful look at Jim Morrison, or a work of deceiving, manipulative genious. I have read almost every book on Jim Morrison and The Doors and this woman was never mentioned once. Great detail has been given to all of Jim's serious girlfriends in the other books, with no trace of a Linda Ashcroft. However,amazingly, the book is so convincing that I am absolutely torn about what to think. If the book is a fake, I would stand in respectful awe of this author's brilliance. Either way, the book is enjoyable and I recommend it.

As a biography, I give it no stars. As a work of fiction, I give it four. That evens out to two.

This book chronicles the love affair of Jim Morrison and Linda Ashcroft, rock star and anonymous woman. The read is romantic and beautiful... too bad it's apparently fiction. Ashcroft offers a book that is, sadly, a pack of either lies or delusion.

Her book's very core conflicts with and flatly contradicts the dual relationships with Pamela Coursen and Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, one of whom extra-legally married to him - a proven testimony that would conflict with Ashcroft's claim that Jim was planning to marry her. She gives no specific dates or landmarks in Jim's life, making vague references to concerts and such events - no one still living (or un-brain-burned) had apparently seen the two together. Supposed thefts deprived her of the alleged material documenting her relationship with Jim.

Smells funny, no? Pamela Coursen had many, many witnesses that she was Jim's lover, testimonies from many people. Patricia Kennealy-Morrison has signed documentation alongside testimonies (though fewer than Pamela) that she had a relationship and extra-legal marriage with Jim Morrison. Ashcroft's utter lack of either documentation or witnesses adds to the funny smell, even if you disbelieve all that we know of either woman in Jim's life.

As a novel, this book reads well. Sweet and romantic, with an excellent writing style and a pleasant flow. But I found it highly distracting that the author wrote this as a biography, and that I knew that none of this was true. Also, some of the things that Jim allegedly said to her disturbed me, and made me wonder why she would put such things down about/by Jim if she supposedly loved him.

If you truly wish to know more about Jim Morrison and women who loved him, I advise you to read both "Strange Days" and "Angels Dance, Angels Die," one about his relationship to Patricia Kennealy-Morrison and one about his relationship to Pamela Coursen. I cannot recommend this as a biography.

A beautifully told story of love, trust, sensuality and creativity between two kindred souls. I enjoyed Ms. Ashcroft's writing style. The book read with a languid pace that held and absorbed. It painted such an intimate portrait of Mr. Morrison, that at times it was painful to read. But, is it the truth? You will have to read and come to your own conclusions. Truth has many sides.

Linda Ashcroft crafted a well-written book of fiction. The dates she claims to have been with Morrison have been publicly proven as inaccurate. She was sued by the Morrison family when the book was first published in Europe and she lost the case, 3/4ths of her advance money and the book was pulled from the shelves. When the book was edited and published in the US, it was proven she did not know Jim and she again lost her advance money and her publishing company canceled her book tour and refused to do any promotion. It would be a great book if she just published it for what it is...fiction.

First, the good news: This is a breathtakingly intimate portrait of James Douglas Morrison. And I use his full name here because I think it's a better portrait of James Douglas Morrison than of Jim Morrison. Only true Morrison fans will know what I mean. Ashcroft paints a picture of the Morrison who was sensitive, loving, creative, protective, generous, intellectual, romantic, playful, honorable, and charming. It's the Morrison that we know he was in greater or lesser measures, but that we nevertheless wish he was even more of. It's also the most dreamily romantic tale ever told about him. You can't not love him after reading this. The reader is seduced into loving him right along with the author--in fact, reading Ashcroft's story may well break you heart.

Now, the bad news: Everyone who supposedly saw them together and could have corroborated her story is dead, or was so blasted at the time, they'd never remember her now. Also, all the letters, poems, gifts, jewelry, etc., that he gave her were conveniently stolen in a burglary. Not only that, but it's a clever literary device that she was underage, therefore, nobody could know about their relationship for Jim's legal safety. There isn't a single picture of them together. If he loved her so much, surely he could have posed for a very chaste photo (maybe taken by Bill Graham?). Most of the story takes place during her high school years, yet during all that time she didn't tell even one friend she was having an intimate relationship with the biggest rock star in America because what they had was special and private!

It's a compelling and very romantic read, but it almost breaks your heart to realize that this story can't possibly be true, because for the most part, this is the Morrison that we all wish he was.

After spending 30 hours straight reading this book from cover to cover (no small feat at just over 500 pages), I was breathless, spent, and somewhat distressed. I felt as if I had lived through the thunderstorm relationship of the life and death of an alcoholic, megalomaniacal rock star. Ashcroft's simple suburban teenage life intertwined with Morrison's chaotic existence seems at times implausible. Yet, the evocative writing style of Ashcroft transforms this controversial tale of teen idol worship into a compelling story that transcends the specific details of their relationship. Ashcroft's ability to let the story unfold on its own sets this memoir apart from other biographies that editorialize their subject. This richly detailed memoir, based on her diaries of 1967 though 1971, resurrects the soul of Jim Morrison and brings to life the pain and power his music embodies. Because of the unique side of Morrison's character that Ashcroft portrays, claims have been made that this book may be nothing more than the fantastic longings of an obsessed groupie. Regardless, I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is willing to cast away their doubts and simply enjoy the ride.

Although, like anyone who was a teenager in the sixties, the Doors' were a part of my life's background music, I read Wild Child because a writer friend recommended the author. So, I may be one of the few who read this book because of the writer and not Jim Morrison. Linda Ashcroft can write!!! But I also became a fan of Morrison's.

I found Allen Ginsberg's quote on the cover to state exactly why this book is important: "Wild Child opens a door and gives an unobstructed view of the human side of genius." (A Great Pun)I heard Ginsberg encouraged Linda to write the whole truth about Jim when she was starting out to tell a couple funny stories about Jim because so many bad things have been said about him.

There were some wonderful revelations about writing in their everyday dialog. This book is what anyone who has kept a diary forever should read to learn how to turn it into literature ...

One of the things I enjoyed most about Wild Child is that Linda Ashcroft wrote without the usual editorializing found in bios. She just let their story unfold. Jim wanted to be a teenager again with her. They were wild children in the best meaning. I really got wrapped up in real feel of the times and the heartfelt truth of the emotions. Dispite what I knew about Morrison's end, I found myself routing for them to make it. If the size of the book imtimidates you, I guarantee it is well worth the late night reading.

This book is remarkable in one way--it accurately represents the fantasies of many a teenage girl. Yes, Jim really sang to YOU, even encoding special messages in his songs. ("If I WERE to say to you..." in the Ed Sullivan Show is actually a response to Ashcroft's grammar critique, who knew?) Yes, this 20-something man was entralled both intellectually and physically by a nerdy (by her own account) teenager and what he really wanted to do was trade not particularly high brow literary analogies for hours on end. Yes, you were the only one who truly grasped the meaning of the Doors. And this goes on for hundreds of pages. Towards the end, I began to worry seriously about Ashcroft's mental state.

This book adequately represents the fantasy life of the pubescent, but, alas, is no more true than my high school fantasies. And not only does it have teenager appropriate content, it also has a writing style that could have been lifted verbatim from my overwrought high school diaries.

Wild Child is the story of the friendship between the author - Linda Ashcroft, and the singer and poet - Jim Morrison. The book begins shortly before their meeting, which occured in the summer of 1967. When they do meet, they form a close, sensual friendship - which will remain so, until Jim Morrison's early death... but until we reach that part, we're given the opportunity to look into their life together. Into their games, their play, their passion, their strive for freedom and the healing of their spirits.

It all arose strong feelings in me.

Since Wild Child is based on Linda's own journal from the period of time when she knew Jim Morrison, it is a complex and very detailed story, written with beautiful, painting words which makes you see the scenes before you clearly.. and due to her perceptiveness, you're given quite a good insight on what really happened at every moment - it helps you look beyond the surface. We're given a rare and sensetive portrait of Jim Morrison, and most of the other characters mentioned in the book (such as Jim's girlfriend - Pamela Courson, and the guitarist Jimi Hendrix), are pictured quite intimatly, as well. Personally, i love drama..and people with a fire inside.. This book has a great deal of that element in it. So therefor, and because of the beauty, intelligence, freedom, poetry and romance in this book..i give it 5 stars. You deserve it ;)

It did puzzle me that the author included no photos of herself, but I figured it was written more as a tribute to Jim Morrison than an opportunity to seek some sort of limelight for herself. Perhaps that is naive, but it would appear by all accounts that Jim Morrison was extremely free with his affections and had a knack for making all the girls he was with feel like "the one," even though they knew full well there were others. Did Jim Morrison really intend to marry Linda Ashcroft? Probably not. No more than he did anyone else, anyway. But the author was at an impressionable age and Morrison seemed to thrive on carrying on a sort of "secret" life. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this account -- not entirely, anyway.