Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre: A Biography of the Doors - Hardcover

Mick Wall is England’s best-known rock writer. The founder of Classic Rock magazine and a contributor to Mojo, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and others, his books include the definitive biographies of Axl Rose (W.A.R.), Led Zeppelin (When Giants Walked the Earth), Metallica (Enter Night), and Black Sabbath. He lives in Oxfordshire.

“Wall’s account pulls no punches, cataloguing each of the primal scenes—early performances, indecent exposure, Jim’s sexuality, decline and death—with a detached, knowing eye.”  —Guitarist

“[Wall’s] attention to both the musical and business parts of the equation is a welcome addition...” —Kirkus Reviews

“Jim Morrison was the terrible angel of the American sixties, and his latest biographer Mick Wall tells his story with a passionate, wide-open drive, like Jim’s famous Shelby GT Ford Mustang with a nitrous oxide hookup. Here James Douglas Morrison emerges more and more as a stand-up, reciting American poet, and an artist whom this author makes you really feel for.” —Stephen Davis, author of Hammer of the Gods


“For Doors fans, and readers of rock biographies in general, this should be considered a must read.” —Booklist

“A thorough look at the Doors’ career, this book is a musical, cultural, and legacy-examining history of one of the most important bands in rock and roll.” —Library Journal

“a smooth, snarky, sarcastic and pull-no-punches look” and “at his best, Wall cuts through the haze and the myths surrounding Morrison and The Doors, backing it up in interviews with girlfriends, journalists, record company flacks and drinking friends.” —Tampa Tribune

"What sets this book apart is that Wall, while getting all the facts and stories and behind-the-music tales down, also offers his own insight and commentary. In the process, he also deconstructs the well-oiled “Myths” of both the Doors and Jim Morrison." —Houston Press


"This is quite simply the best biography of The Doors as a band, as a myth, as an American experience that has yet been offered." —Aquarian Weekly