Love Him Madly

Love Him Madly
Love Him Madly

Love Him Madly

An Intimate Memoir of Jim Morrison
By Judy Huddleston, Foreword by Pamela Des Barres

MUSIC

240 Pages, 5.5 x 8.5

Formats: Trade Paper, Mobipocket, EPUB, PDF

Trade Paper, $16.95 (CA $18.95) (US $16.95)

ISBN 9781613747506

Rights: WOR

Chicago Review Press (Jun 2013)

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Overview

"A poignant true story about a unique love affair, intimately told and wonderfully written, involving the legendary Jim Morrison." —John Rechy, author, City of Night

 

Chronicling a young woman’s four-year relationship with the lead singer of the Doors, this intensely intimate memoir provides a direct and unprecedented view of the late-1960s Los Angeles subculture. When Judy Huddleston's parents got divorced, she spent her last year of high school attending concerts. Transformed from a perceptive child into a rebellious teenager bent on attracting boys and fueled by psychedelics, she had lost her sense of self. That’s when Jim Morrison came into her life. Honest, funny and direct, Huddleston provides an emotional portrayal of an unbalanced sexual relationship with a man whose demons haunted everyone he knew, while offering an even-handed portrait of Jim as a complex human being. Written in the idealistic and simultaneously jaded voice of a teenager, this is a tale of sex, obsession, misplaced spirituality, and an unforgettable fall from innocence.

Reviews

“A poignant true story about a unique love affair, intimately told and wonderfully written, involving the legendary Jim Morrison.” —John Rechy, author of City of Night

“Judy Huddleston’s dreamy, provocative memoir is about the emptiness and desperation so many of us feel when we’re young. It’s about that universal desire for meaning, for the world to be more whole and colorful than it ever manages to be, and how Huddleston wrapped all that desire and hope into this one, equally troubled and desperate man: Jim Morrison.” —Kerry Cohen, author of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity

“Jim Morrison’s life is well documented, but Love Him Madly delves into the profound personal cost of standing too close to such an incandescent and unpredictable flame. . . . Huddleston’s urgent and compelling prose plunge the reader inside the maelstrom of late-1960s L.A. and that beautiful, self-destructive genius.” —Sue William Silverman, author of Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction

“Compelling reading. It was really difficult to put down this book as the story of fragile obsession unfolded.” —Pattie Boyd, author of Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me

"Indeed, the portrait that emerges of Morrison is that of an immature, selfish, possessive, and sex-obsessed singer, who is surprisingly needy and easily hurt by the slightest criticism. (“Promise you’ll never say any more bad things to me,” he says to Huddleston at one point.) Huddleston writes about her four-year relationship (although the word relationship is used here generously) with the singer, and the psychedelic drug experiences that landed her in the hospital. A sad portrait of an unbalanced, often humiliating on-and-off love affair between a confused teenager and a rock icon."—Booklist Online


"A memoir of a tempestuous affair between a young art student and a tortured rock god... Best read as an antidote to the usual Morrison hagiographies by adoring critics."—Kirkus Reviews


"Love Him Madly counterpoints Huddlston’s relationship with Jim Morrison and time she spent in 1974 in a mental health facility. Huddleston met Morrison early in The Doors career and soon became infatuated with him. She saw herself and Morrison getting married while Morrison seemed intent on using her and calling her at his convenience, at first. Love Him Madly shows an evolution, although it may not have been a healthy one, and their relationship did go beyond just Morrison’s needs because Morrison wasn’t above playing whatever card he thought would get her to let him in the door or get her into bed. Love Him Madly also shows the array of emotions, insecurities and fears that drove Morrison to call her."—Examiner.com


"Where Love Him Madly does find some redemption is in its portrayal of Morrison as a silly teenager (perhaps as much so as Huddleston herself). He's prone to whims. He pontificates. He's sullen. He takes pictures with fans on the street. Despite all the despicable qualities Huddleston relates, and though neither of the book's subjects are portrayed in a particularly likeable light, seeing Morrison so child-like (and childish) is interesting to read and contrary to every idealized version of the man.—Under the Radar

Author Biography

Judy Huddleston teaches writing and integrated arts at California State University–Monterey Bay. She is the author of This Is the End, My Only Friend and has been published in many literary journals, including NANO Fiction, New South, the Los Angeles Review, and Wordriot. She lives in San Francisco. Pamela Des Barres is the author of the bestselling memoirs I'm with the Band, Let’s Spend the Night Together, and Take Another Little Piece of My Heart. She has written for numerous publications, including Cosmopolitan, the New York Times, and Rolling Stone. She lives in Monterey, California.