In American culture, there is an image of the tortured artist who abuses alcohol or drugs. Edgar Allan Poe, Jackson Pollock and Kurt Cobain are a few examples. Several of the writers we have read so far, including Baldwin, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Carver had serious problems with alcohol. Some, like Carver, chose to get sober, while others did not. Jim Morrison – After he completed high school Jim Morrison was about to jump into his own …showed first 75 words of 544 total…

…showed last 75 words of 544 total…he was 27. Although The Doors performance was somewhat like a cult gathering; all of them were performed while they were on some type of drug or alcohol substance. They were a popular band and a major influence to other bands, poets, and artists in our generation today. “Let’s just say I was testing the bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That’s all it was: just curiosity.” –Jim Morrison