Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess

The extraordinary young life of Danny Sugerman is chronicled in this second book covering the L.A. scene of the 1960s and 1970s. Jim Morrison has died, The Doors are attempting to hang on as a group, Sugerman is chasing his own demons and Detroit's answer to the Lizard King arrives on the scene. Iggy Stooge (Pop) becomes the icon of decadence; destroying luxury cars parked at the palatial homes of his young girlfriends, being so smashed that his mop of hair is used as a mop to clean a floor and - through it all - perhaps becoming the lead singer of The Doors. Sugerman tries to keep Iggy together as the party that never stops rotates faster and faster. It is an end of an era of sorts as Sugerman tries to clean up before becoming yet another drug casuality while The Doors put together one last great gig and Iggy whirls through a self-destructive fantasy that only comes to an abrupt halt years later. Sugerman lived through it....and survived, barely. The book ends as a cautionary tale of wandering onto a wonderland avenue, only to find out too late that it's a living hell.

It is NOT moralizing. It is a super fun read! It is NOT a dry lecture about the dangers of drug addiction - read it because it is fun! That it has a 'message' is a bonus - the book itself is a masterpiece! I love this book! I've read it twice and could not put it down! Danny's writing style is superb! I have read LOTS of books and this is my #2 favorite book of all time (after The Mists of Avalon)! Very decadent but has tremendous redeeming value. Danny was press manager for The Doors, and this is his story....Witty, funny, outrageous! Danny's style of writing is SO incredible you really can't put this book down! (well after the first chapter anyway). And there is a bonus: after reading this with my son, he decided to become straight-edge! Note: has lots of sex, drugs, and rock n roll, not to mention excessive profanity. Not for the squeamish. Interestingly, all of the reviews rave about this book except for one, and that one is by someone who obviously is very self-righteous and couldn't handle the sex drugs rock n roll. Too bad. His loss.

Danny Sugarman was a 14-year old kid living in the L.A. suburb of Westchester, near LAX. He was troubled, and did not like his step-father. He read an ad or heard about a rock band in Hollywood that was hiring a teenager to answer mail, so he went for and got the job. The band was The Doors. Getting from Westchester to Hollywood by bus is not all that easy, but he did it just about every day. Jim Morrison befriended him and told him not to let his parents addle his brain with Ritalin, an ironic anti-drug message coming from the Lizard King. As a teenager, Sugarman accompanied Morrison on sojourns to the Sunset Strip, where despite his minority he was admitted to the rarified air of The Doors, The Byrds, and other classic California bands. His step-father was appalled.Remarkably, despite his lifestyle, Sugarmnan was good enough at baseball to be offered a scholarship of some kind to play at UCLA, but his commitment to the band tugged at his dedication for the game, so he never went the diamond route.As Morrison went downhill, so too did Sugarman. Unlike the song "No One Here Gets Out Alive", Sugarman managered, barely, to escape. After Jim's death, Sugarman picked himself up and lived in a house on Wonderland Avenue. It was all set up by Ray Manzaerek, the Doors' keyboardist extraordinaire. Manzarek, the "sensible one" among The Doors, wanted to continue the band, or at least his own musical career. Sugarman was hired to be the band's manager, and it was a lucrative life for a guy still in his early 20s. He quickly found himself drawn back into the sordid life of drugs, alcohol, sexual excess, and the like. The Wonderland address did not help, it being a small enclave off of Laurel Canyon, the famed street that connects West Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley. Its narrow canyons and streets are dotted with picturesque homes that embody the California Dream, and are inhabited (especially then) by those artists whose labors have born fruit. The Sharon Tate murders occurred in the general vicinity. Wild, loud parties were so commonplace that neighbors hearing the screams of Charles Manson's victims thought it was just another bash. John Holmes would be involved in a massacre there in the '80s. Later, this would be the area where Heidi Fleiss connected porn with Hollywood money.Sugarman, who eventually would marry Iran-Contra ingenue Fawn Hall, lived with his gorgeous girfriend and lived the life. Aside from The Doors, he also managed the unbeliavable Iggy Pop. Once at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool, Iggy was sunning himself next to "Gilligan's Island" icon Tina Louise. Iggy plopped his manhood from out of his floppy shorts, showed it to Ms. Louise, and asked sardonically if she would care for a shag of the old English sausage. Tina politely declined. The book describes one after the other of Sugarman's friends and associates meeting the Grim Reaper, and in the end he lists pages of names - musicians, producers, groupies, enemies, friends, girfrien

Fans of the movie "Almost Famous" should thoroughly enjoy this book. The decadent LA rock scene of the late 60's is almost as strong a character in this book as Danny Sugerman is; the reader gets drawn into the turmoil and excitement of both. Sugerman tells of his journey into rock and roll with Jim Morrison, the tragic philosopher/vocalist of the Doors. As a journalist/band manager, Sugerman gets to live the rock lifestyle full force: backstage passes, wild parties, and national tours give way to drug use, sexual hijinks, and general hedonistic debauchery. But Wonderland Avenue is about more than just drug use and "tales of excess", it is about finding strength and meaning in ones life. For Sugerman (as well as many of us out there) music is what gives him his strength, and will to power. Wonderland Avenue is a heartfelt book about experience, passion, and music. Through his detailed and unabashed descriptions, Sugerman proves that so long as you continue to learn and grow, Rock and Roll in it's finest form is worth almost any price.

Danny proved with this book that he has an enormous writing talent that keeps me waiting for another. His writing style made me feel like I was right there beside him through everything.I laughed, partied and suffered right along with him. He had the wonderful opportunity to be where the rest of us could only dream about.Danny, congratulations on all of your success, and hopefully much more to come!