Love Her Madly: Jim Morrison, Mary, and Me Paperback – November 3, 2020

I am a life long Doors fan. I read No One Here Gets Out Alive When I was in the sixth grade. At 55 I still have a fascination for everything Doors and Jim Morrison. I found myself getting more and more interested in the time before the Doors were formed. There have been countless books written about the time after that, many with contradictory narratives. This was such a nice account of a brief yet critical period that shaped the history and legacy of a man and band that 60 years later, we as fans are still amazed by. This was a very organic and sincere reminiscence by someone who obviously loved his friends. Thank You for sharing. The lyrics are so much deeper now.

Wonderful book. I couldn't put it down. Paints a vivid picture of southern California in the mid-60s, and definitely gives some insight into a pre-fame Jim Morrison's personality. Hint: he wasn't what the Oliver Stone film and the "No One Here Gets Out Alive" book make him out to be. Surprisingly, many fans tend to only focus on the "myth", rather than the genuinely sensitive and talented mortal man underneath it.Jim's relationship with Mary Werbelow hasn't been spoken of in great detail previously, as Mary greatly valued her privacy for good reason. This book gives some glances and insights into the intense love they shared, the influence Mary had upon Jim's writing, and how the ghosts of the past sadly haunted Mary even decades later.I couldn't put this book down and read it in one setting (although it is a fairly decent length). Excellent addition to your library of Morrison/Doors, or if you just want a nice read that reflects the carefree atmosphere of Venice Beach circa 1965.

I liked this book. It gave an account of Jim Morrison before he became famous. In the time when Bill Cosgrave knew Jim Morrison, a lot of his talents were in their latency. He wasn't singing, he wasn't performing, his sense of style, and showmanship were not things he had yet discovered in himself. Mr. Cosgrove not being acquainted with any of these parts of Jim Morrison is what makes the story worth telling. By the time Jim Morrison became famous, most people he encountered would have had a fantasy about him based on his music, writing, style and attitude. They would have expected to meet a Rock Star. But Bill Cosgrave was just interacting with a person who he had no preconceived notions about. It appears at the time he knew him, Jim Morrison didn't yet realize those things about himself either. The story shows that sometimes you meet your fate in circumstances that are beyond your control, and I would imagine Jim Morrison is someone for whom this is true. This book is way more interesting than John Densmore's or Ray Manzarek's book about Morrison, because those self consciously refer to the myth and had an interest in maintaining it. There was no myth of Jim Morrison when Bill Cosgrave met him. He was just an intelligent, shy, thoughtful writer and beatnik, living a hippie beach life dream in Venice. Morrison must have hooked his intuition up to the Mythic level of the Collective pretty quickly once he had access to it, and more than likely intuited his fate as well. This book is interesting. The looks at the pre fame Morrison are fleeting. A lot of the story is about Mr. Cosgrave and is less compelling. Jim's non stop pot smoking, which at the beginning seem like a beatnik affectation hint at his darker fate. The story will give a perspective on Morrison probably not found anywhere else. But, it was a stretch going 200 pages, and I found myself thumbing through it to get to the Morrison parts. I felt his loss when he died, and Mary Werbelow's as well. You got the feeling that Pamela Courson was drawn to the fame and not the person and was responsible for his death. It's a tidy little story. Well worth reading about if you are looking into insights into Morrison. There's a couple of nuggets here, but also the sense that the real mysteries of Morrison hadn't yet been plumbed by him at this point in his life, and the short years that followed would have probably even been a surprise to him.

It was a treasure trove of facts and adventures about Jim, his first love and the author long before the Doors existed. There was so much I hadn’t read before. I have so many books about Jim and this one is crucial. If you’re a long time fan or recently intrigued by Jim, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

The story is about the special friendship of Mr Cosgrave with Jim and Mary, but also his adventures in California. His account of those times with Jim and Mary were wild, free, fun and amazing! I finished this book in two days.

This is an outstanding book! As a life long fan of the Doors and Jim Morrison in particular, it was so refreshing to read about the time in Morrison's life before fame was thrust upon him. I could not put it down and it's a very easy read. Bravo!

I’ve read countless books on Jim Morrison but this was the first that gave me a firsthand look at his life out in Los Angeles before he and Ray Manzarek formed The Doors. The author knew both Jim and Jim’s first serious girlfriend Mary Werbelow and I found her part of the story very compelling and eventually heartbreaking.

I hate to sound like a cynic, but I just don't trust much (if any) of this account. I've read a ton of Jim Morrison books and although a lot isn't written about this particular timeframe, I still have never heard of this guy. It doesn't help the validity when the author doesn't add a single photograph to help support the story. I'm suppose to believe that you were such amazingly good friends w/Jim (and even Mary for that matter), yet you don't provide even one single picture to help substantiate hundreds of pages? As a book it's a decent read, but as a documented true account of an integral part of Jim & Mary's life together, I just don't believe it.