Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Hunter S. Thompson

by Hunter S. Thompson, Jann S. Wenner

From the bestselling author of The Rum Diary and king of “Gonzo” journalism Hunter S. Thompson, comes the definitive collection of the journalist’s finest work from Rolling Stone. Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone showcases the roller-coaster of a career at the magazine that was his literary home.“Buy the ticket, take the ride,” was a favorite slogan of Hunter S. Thompson, and it pretty much defined both his work and his life. Jann S. Wenner, the outlaw journalist’s friend and editor for nearly thirty-five years, has assembled articles—and a wealth of never- before-seen correspondence and internal memos from Hunter’s storied tenure at Rolling Stone—that begin with Thompson’s infamous run for sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Party ticket in 1970 and end with his final piece on the Bush-Kerry showdown of 2004. In between is Thompson’s remarkable coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign and plenty of attention paid to Richard Nixon; encounters with Muhammad Ali, Bill Clinton, and the Super Bowl; and a lengthy excerpt from his acknowledged masterpiece, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The definitive volume of Hunter S. Thompson’s work published in the magazine, Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone traces the evolution of a personal and professional relationship that helped redefine modern American journalism, presenting Thompson through a new prism as he pursued his lifelong The life and death of the American Dream.

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism, Politics, Essays, History, Biography, Music

596 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2011

About the author

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism alongside Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He gained prominence with Hell's Angels, living among the motorcycle club to provide a first-hand account of their lives, and later wrote the unconventional article "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved," which established his signature Gonzo journalism style, in which the writer becomes central to the narrative. He is best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, serialized in Rolling Stone, exploring the failure of the 1960s counterculture, adapted for film in 1980 and 1998. Thompson ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, on the Freak Power ticket and became known for his intense disdain for Richard Nixon, covering George McGovern's 1972 campaign for Rolling Stone in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72. His output declined in the mid-1970s due to fame and substance abuse, though he continued writing sporadically for outlets including Rolling Stone, Playboy, Esquire, and ESPN.com, with much of his work collected in The Gonzo Papers. Thompson was known for lifelong alcohol and drug use, love of firearms, and contempt for authority, often noting that such vices "worked for him." He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Virginia Davison Ray, a librarian, and Jack Robert Thompson, an insurance adjuster, and grew up in the Cherokee Triangle neighborhood. After his father’s death, his mother raised him and his two brothers. An athletic youth, he co-founded the Hawks Athletic Club, attended several schools including Louisville Male High School, and became a member of the Athenaeum Literary Association, contributing to its yearbook until expelled for criminal activity. He enlisted in the Air Force, studying electronics and becoming sports editor of the Command Courier, then worked briefly for Time and local newspapers before moving to Puerto Rico to write for El Sportivo and the San Juan Star. He traveled to South America for the National Observer, then lived in Big Sur, where he worked as a caretaker and security guard and published his first magazine feature and short story. Thompson married Sandra Dawn Conklin, with whom he had a son, Juan, and continued writing, experimenting with dextroamphetamine and later cocaine. His reporting on the Hell's Angels and coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention shaped his political outlook. After Hell's Angels, he published for national magazines and critiqued the hippie movement, then moved to Woody Creek, Colorado, establishing his home Owl Farm. In 1970, he pioneered Gonzo journalism with his Kentucky Derby article, later collaborating with illustrator Ralph Steadman, and began writing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, combining fiction and reportage. His coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign broke traditional boundaries of political reporting. Thompson struggled with fame and substance abuse, missing assignments such as the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974, and retreated to Owl Farm, continuing to write sporadically. He produced The Gonzo Papers, contributed to The San Francisco Examiner, and published memoir Kingdom of Fear in 2003. He married Anita Bejmuk in 2003, and in 2005 took his own life at Owl Farm. Thompson’s Gonzo style blurred fiction and nonfiction, placing himself at the center of his narratives, often creating a mythic persona, Raoul Duke. His political beliefs included support for drug legalization, firearm rights, civil liberties, and skepticism of official narratives, and he engaged in advocacy through the Fourth Amendment Foundation and NORML. Posthumously, scholarships in his name support journalism students and veterans. Thompson remains a cult figure, celebrated for his audacious, immersive writing, fearless social critique, and enduring influence o

Reviews

[Rory Patrick Feehan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been eagerly looking forward to this book, as have a lot of people, ever since it first appeared on the horizon over three years ago. Originally slated for release in November 2008, it suddenly vanished off the radar as quickly as it had appeared, with no explanation whatsoever from the publisher. Having finally received a copy of this book before Christmas, all I can say is that it is a pity it didn’t remain in the wilderness for good. In short this book is an utter disgrace.

I cannot fathom what Jann Wenner was thinking when he decided to publish this book. You might of course be wondering why on earth I would have this opinion? This is of course perfectly reasonable, given Hunter’s long and illustrious history with Rolling Stone, the publication in which his greatest work appeared. Yet reason had little to do with this latest offering.

In what can only be described as a decision of breathtaking arrogance, Jann Wenner, with the help of Paul Scanlon, decided to severely edit Hunter’s original prose. I am not just talking about taking excerpts from the original articles – that might actually have been a sensible move considering the length of some of his work. Instead however, what is contained in the pages of this collection can only be described as a kind of horrific experiment gone wrong, FrankenGonzo if you like, starring Jann Wenner as the crazed creator holed away in a workshop of filthy creation. The result of his efforts of course is a creature of monstrous ugliness.

It is hard not to form this impression when you see the heavy handed dissection of Hunter’s work. The original flow of his writing is all but destroyed, with paragraph after paragraph hacked away in favour of this new re-imagined beast. Take Strange Rumblings in Aztlan for example, the entire first page or so has vanished in favour of an opening line that comes from the middle of a paragraph on the second page of the original article. Actually, what Wenner does here is to combine two of Hunter’s sentences into a shorter opening statement. So basically the first sentence you read never even really existed in that form. Of course, Wenner might point to a letter from Hunter, dated February 10th 1971, in which Hunter questions the editing of the piece and admits that the chronology is scrambled. However, there is nothing that justifies the crazed butchery that takes place with the remainder of the material in this book.

Apart from The Battle of Aspen and a section from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, what is presented as “The Essential Hunter S. Thompson”, is in fact quite the opposite. There is absolutely no point to this collection at all. Why would anyone want an edited version of Hunter’s original prose? It is like taking Hamlet and deciding to edit out the soliloquies, or releasing a new version of Gonzo: The Art by Ralph Steadman with a new colour scheme selected by Jann Wenner. I also find it amusing that Wenner decided to include Mistah Leary, He Dead, Hunter’s obituary for Timothy Leary, which he describes as “a proper RS send-off”. The original article was published in issue 740, August 8th 1996. If you have trouble finding it in that issue that is because it was buried away in the letters section, as if submitted by a reader. Funny how time changes a person’s perspective. (Personally I always liked the piece and was baffled at its original location in issue 740)

As for Fear and Loathing at the Super Bowl it is so heavily edited the only explanation I can think of is that Wenner turned the article over to a bunch of giddy interns who had just discovered the delete button. It is utterly unrecognizable.

To make matters worse, Jann Wenner’s feeble attempt to explain away this thoroughly misguided quackery is nothing short of an insult to Hunter’s loyal readers.

“I’ve always thought that Hunter had, in a sense, written his own autobiography in the pages of Rolling Stone, and that if there was a way to take his collected work and edit it properly, there would emerge a narrative of Hunter’s great and wild life, a story about himself, who was, after all, his own greatest character.”

Let is all take a moment to bow down to this genius revelation courtesy of Jann Wenner. Where would we be without the blessing of his visionary insight into Hunter’s life and work? I for one am thankful that he could spare a minute to take Hunter’s work and “edit it properly”, and yes I mean a minute. There is no other way that you could explain this drivel.

Ok in closing all I will say is this. Don’t waste your hard earned money on this book, if you want to read the essential Hunter S. Thompson, then pick up The Gonzo Papers Anthology or The Great Shark Hunt. At least you will have Hunter’s original work, unblemished as he intended.

* - Rory Feehan runs Totallygonzo.org - The Hunter S. Thompson Community and is currently undertaking a PhD on Hunter S. Thompson at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland.

[furious · Rating 1 out of 5]

WARNING!

this book of HEAVILY edited/butchered HST material represents the latest disgusting attempt by the vile pig fucker Jann Wenner to suck cash out of the Good Doctor's corpse. this is the shameless desecration of Art by a greedheaded whoreson with no modicum of human decency.

[Robert Delikat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson is a book that is basically just that. It was in the early 70’s that I first met HST. We used to hang out, smoke a little weed, do a few lines then drop some blotter and discuss the political chicanery going on in Washington or just the basic fuckedupedness of world affairs in general. Vietnam was grist for our mill back then. Ol’ Tricky Dick, being the easy target that he was, had a great deal to be said and written about him. Man, those were some wild times. Crazy..., as messed up as we thought Nixon was back then, how we wished for him back years later when a particular "W" winds up stealing the While House. Man and we thought some cheap, hotel break-in was bad. Shit!

I remember HST telling me about how he met Clarence Thomas on a road trip with these two hookers...

And that’s my rather feeble attempt at Gonzo Journalism. The inimitable writing style that made Hunter S. Thompson so unique and absolutely brilliant. Actually, inimitable back then but not so much now. Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity. The reporter is part of the story by way of a first-person narrative. Some of his stories, as mine above, are so outrageously fantastic that they often defy belief but contain elements of truth only in hyperbole that cannot be denied.

The real truth is that I met Hunter S. Thompson in the pages of Rolling Stone (never had the honor in person) in the 70’s and subscribed to that periodical only to read his writings. Journalists are supposed to be objective but objective journalism, as HST has said, is a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. Fox News stands out today as the paragon of that contradiction but even PBS’s bias these days is only thinly veiled. So give it up, don’t be a hypocrite. Let it all hangout like Limbaugh and Beck. Be who you are and twist and crank the reporting of reality anyway you like, just don’t call it objective (or even real) .

With HST, this was easy reading for me. I adored the guy. To me, he was a true American hero. He was saying things in public not so many people had the guts to say in private. FaLaRS is not only essential Hunter S. Thompson, it is essential reading period. I would like to say that I don’t care what side of the political spectrum you sit, you will laugh your ass off reading this book. But that is probably not the case. Liberals might actually tear-up a little also because they too see the good doctor’s sense of reality. Conservatives, lacking any sense of humor, will probably deny the truth of any of what he had to say and dismiss it all as the ramblings of a drug-crazed maniac.

There’s a lot of talk about drugs here; not so much about sex or rock and roll. There’s mostly politics that is as relevant today as it was between the years of Nixon and George W. Bush, the span of the book. There’s a wonderful part in the book about HST and Mohamed Ali and other parts as well about other sports figures that are priceless.

I absolutely loved this book. There was not a moment that I was not completely entertained by it. It was totally bittersweet and not because HST had the ability to turn the most tragic times in our recent history into something hilarious but because Hunter S. Thompson is no longer with us. And I miss him like crazy.

The narration of this Brilliance Audio production was by Phil Gigante, a better narrator to tell the story of Hunter S. Thompson they probably could not have found. I could not recommend a book more highly.

[Doctor Moss · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a kind of Hunter Thompson "reader." It contains abridged selections from the years of his association with Rolling Stone. At its best, it presents a "highlight package" assembled by Jann Wenner, containing pieces from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson's 1972 campaign coverage, Watergate, Fear and Loathing in Elko, correspondence between Wenner and Thompson, and other fragments.

As a Thompson fan, of course I always enjoy reading his work. This book, though, by no means substitutes for reading the full length works and full sequences of pieces it is drawn from. If what you're in the mood for is in fact a retrospective cruise through work you're already familiar with, it's enjoyable. If instead you want to read the real Thompson, either for the first time or as a revisiting, then you're better off going to the originals. I do think it's a shame when publishers substitute abridged versions of already relatively short works, encouraging readers to satisfy themselves with less than the real thing. And the real thing is available in individual works.

It's hard not to give a higher rating to anything written by Hunter Thompson, but the fault here is not his, but the very conception of the book.

[Aiden Wylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Essential HST? That's an awful lot of Hunter. This unedited (from the magazine articles, which differ from the book form) compilation of his Rolling Stone work is indeed his prime material. From the moving Battle of Aspen, where Thompson shunned the obnoxious humour of his ESPN work for an honest analysis (which in retrospect was almost prophetic) of American politics, to the fading and irrelevant sports pieces, the heart of the Doc's work is included.

Unquestionably the highlight is Thompson's masterpiece, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, and this is reprinted almost in full. George McGovern, "the finest man in the Senate", regarded Thompson as a friend and a fine political mind. With McGovern's death this year, and Obama's administration stumbling through its final days, '72 is a reminder of how lacking current political analysis is. We lack the finest minds either side of the platform.

[Anurag Ram Chandran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hunter S. Thompson has produced many a masterpiece of journalism (and arguably fiction), however in my humble opinion, his best ever works are found in the pages of Rolling Stone. While my only criticism of this book is that some of these pieces were edited for size--after all, I am a firm believer in consuming the most unadultered version of Thompson's writings--I can't help but stress how phenomenal these pieces are. He somehow manages to both hook you into the core of the story, as well as care for the most absurd, and seemingly unrelated happenings. His famous tangents are truly a work of art to the extent that sometimes you forget what the whole premise was, because the tangent was just as exciting to read. Most of the highlights are obvious: the Aspen run for Sheriff (The Battle of Aspen), Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, and numerous Campaign Trail '72 pieces (particularly, Notes from a Decompression Chamber in Miami). But there are several other gems that received less attention, but are just as capturing: The Muhammad Ali interview (Last Tango in Vegas), the Pulitzer divorce (A Dog Took my Place), and one of my personal favorites, Polo Is My Life. But the true star of the book is how Hunter's letters and memos to RS staff (a small number of them) remarkably tie together the person behind these stories, as well as the work that goes on in the background. It takes a true unhinged genius to create works that effortlessly blend fiction and reality, while still effectively conveying the message that needs to be conveyed. Needless to say, but I will be frequently revisiting many of the pieces. Thank you for the brilliance, HST!

[Karen Hannum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason this has been downgraded is that many of these have been collected in other essays. Add to that the fact that Jann S. Wenner has the unmitigated audacity to cash in on a collection of Dr. Thompson's works all the while complaining about actually performing an the job of an Editor-in-Chief fills me with loathing. His pretentious privileged outlook on life should be called to task but I am certain it never will be, or at least not sink in that he is a huge part of the problem in general. Mr. Wenner constantly let's us know about missed deadlines, unfinished pieces, and articles not deemed good enough until I just stated skipping his inserts as I already knew about most of them from Dr. Thompson himself. If you are a collector of Hunter S. Thompson go ahead and purchase this. Otherwise you may want to give this the go by. Mr. Wenner constantly let's us know about missed deadlines, unfinished pieces, and articles not deemed good enough until I just stated skipping his inserts as I already knew about most of them from Dr. Thompson himself.

[Sarah Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an electric time capsule, stitched together with Hunter S. Thompson’s signature cocktail of rage, brilliance and raw, unapologetic style. Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone is a curated collection of Thompson’s most iconic and incendiary work for the magazine, spanning presidential campaigns, Super Bowls, and backstage madness with the Hell’s Angels. If Gonzo journalism is a religion, this is its holy book.

Reading it feels like being strapped into a rollercoaster operated by a man on mescaline – and loving every minute. Thompson’s voice is unmistakable: profane, poetic, and urgently alive. He doesn't just report the news – he dissects it with a chainsaw, all while holding a mirror up to American culture at its most bloated and bizarre.

Despite the chaos, there’s serious craft beneath the madness. You come for the lunacy, but stay for the insight. Some pieces feel dated, but most remain alarmingly relevant. Politics, media, celebrity culture – he skewers it all with a sneer and a cigarette.

Highly recommended if you're into journalism that punches through the page and leaves ink under your fingernails. A must-read for writers, rebels, and anyone curious about the savage heart of 20th-century America.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst it’s nice to have all of the RS pieces in a single collection, they are (almost all) seemingly heavily & needlessly edited which was a disappointment.

I will admit that the lore provided by way of inclusion of fax/letters between HST and RS staff is fascinating; and sets the scene for a lot of these articles; so, suggest you get original copies of the Gonzo Files (I.e at least The Great Shark Hunt) and you can use the contents in each to marry the lore back to the original unmolested articles in the collections released while HST was still alive.

[Jason Hackney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any reader trying to get a sense of Hunter S. Thompson and his growth since 1970, this would be a great first book. It samples selections from his time as a writer for the Rolling Stone as well as letters to and from the editor-in-chief, Jann Werner.

Many of Thompson's excerpts in this book will show you that current times were written on the wall in bright red lettering.

The entrenchment of the two-party system acting as gatekeepers to the power world in which the Doomed and Screwheads aren't allowed to travel is something Thompson took on. As capitalism and defected worm-infested brains lead us into the 21st century, we find that the slovenly and sloth-like lifestyles we have chosen have led to a breakdown of towns and any sense of community. Cities appear as a dot on a map. Circular with an assumed nerve center. But when you get most places, it looks like the monkies of the Amazon Rainforest have been put to work given concrete and rusted metal to create a dim, sprawling, playscape.

Tourism is not viewing from your automobile windows. Roads do not equal progress, just the opposite. Housing is expensive because mean, yet cowardly vultures control real estate. Cops are a group of terroristic thugs doing the bidding for every greedhead looter in the country. Thompson lays out a new vision for towns that some on the left are just now calling for:

"Our program, basically, was to drive the real estate goons completely out of the valley: to prevent the State Highway Department from bringing a four-lane highway into the town and, in fact, to ban all auto traffic from every downtown street. Turn them all into grassy malls where everybody, even freaks, could do whatever's right. The cops would become trash collectors and maintenance men for a fleet of municipal bicycles, for anybody to use. No more huge, space-killing apartment buildings to block the view, from any downtown street, of anybody who might want to look up and see the mountains. No more land rapes, no more busts for "flute-playing" of "blocking the sidewalk"...fuck the tourists, dead-end the highway, zone the greedheads out of existence, and in general create a town where people could love like human beings, instead of slaves to some bogus sense of Progress that is driving us all mad."

Thompson also touched on the constant interactions between the lowest form of human life, the police, and minority groups in Amerikkka. As cops brutally and cowardly commit acts of fascism and violence against those they are supposed to be serving and protecting today, the same problems have plagued our history in the past. Their skills are less than your average used car salesmen and their underdeveloped brains are quick to the trigger if your hue or political stance is even a sliver away from total fascism. Thompson documents one of these interactions with the murder of Rueben Salazar:

"...no explanation was necessary--at least anybody likely to be found drinking in the Silver Dollar. The customers are locals: Chicanos and barrio people--and every one of them is acutely aware of what happened in the Silver Dollar on August 29, 1970.

That was the day Reuben, the prominent Mexican-American columnist for the Los Angeles Times and news director for bilingual KMEX-TV, walked into the place and sat down on a stool near the doorway to order a beer he would never drink. Because just about the time the barmaid was sliding his beer across the bar, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy named Tom Wilson fired a tear gas bomb through the front door and blew half of Reuben Salazar's head off. All the other customers escaped out the back exit to the alley, but Salazar never emerged. He died on the floor in a cloud of CS gas--and when his body was finally carried out, hours later, his name was already launched into martyrdom. Within twenty-four hours, the very mention of the name Rueben Salazar was enough to provoke the tears and fist-shaking tirade not only along Whittier Boulevard but all over East L.A...

...A week later, District Attorney Evelle Younger--a staunch Law & Order man--announced that he had reviewed the case and decided that "no criminal charge is justified," despite the unsettling fact two of the three jurors who had voted for the "death by accident" verdict were now saying they had made a mistake.

But by that time nobody really gave a damn. The Chicano community had lost faith in the inquest about midway through the second day, and all the testimony only reinforced their anger at what most considered an evil whitewash. When the DA announced that no charges would be filed against Wilson, several of the more moderate Chicano spokesmen called for a federal investigation. The militants called for an uprising. And the cops said nothing--at all."

The political scene in 1972 was similar for Thompson, a cesspool of untalented ghouls running naked through the White House and Capitol Hill donning Kente cloths and Confederate flags to symbolize what they think they stand for. Brownshirts are recruited and activated by a president with a mental capacity that could not handle putting together a Hot Wheels race track, to do his white power dirty work.

Thompson, I believe, later in life became swept up and missed the ominous clouds moving over Washington D.C. with Bill Clinton and it can be somewhat understood. The media did was not conglomerated into five companies. Politicians still had somewhat of the Fear in them that one day, citizens from every color would cannibalize the US and state governments in front of their families on 24/7 entertainment news services. His political innocence and political elbow-rubbing caused him to miss the total picture of what was happening, but he later caught on before his death with George W. Bush. Here is a succinct and accurate portrayal of the American electorate and presidential politics at the end of the '72 primary season and still today:

"...This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it--that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable...

...How low do you have to stoop in this country to be president?"

Thompson also delights in his sympathy for a crooked president that some were trying to rehabilitate the image of. Think Bush and soon to be President Baby Duck:

"Who gives a fuck if he's lonely and depressed out there...If there were any such thing as true justice in this world, his rancid carcass would be somewhere down around Easter Island right now, in the belly of a hammerhead shark."

There is even an excerpt from his book Hey Rube! that shows Thompson beginning to realize the twilight of his life was ending and he goes through many memories of life to an almost zen-like reaction to how he will go on and cherish the intricacies of his life. While discussing his memories, Thompson is also writing this out into a love letter for someone he never mentions? It's not clear, but the memories and the climax of putting a letter into a mailbox to send away may also serve as a melancholy euphemism to his own death. It closes with this perfect excerpt that shines a light on how normal, yet how unique even the small things were to Hunter:

"Yes sir. That is my wisdom and this is my song. It is Sunday and I am making new rules for myself. I will open my heart to spirits and pay more attention to animals. I will take some harp music and drive down to the Texaco station, where I can get a pork taco and read a New York Times. After that, I will walk across the street to the post office and slip my letter into her mailbox."

And remember, if life gets too weird, Thompson provides a possible solution:

"And when things get nervous, there's always that smack-filled $7-a-night motel room down on the seawall in Galveston."


5/5 stars. Can never get enough HST, should be required reading in any literature, journalism, and political science majors.

[William Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most people my age, I know about HST because of the movie adaptation of 'Fear and Loathing' where he is portrayed capably by Johnny Depp (probably the last good movie he appeared in). I must have watched that damn movie 100 times and could probably still recite all the lines without having seen it in years. I thought it was absolutely hilarious when i was younger, and as I gre older I saw it for something more than a comedy. I started seeing through all of the drugged out interludes into the heart of a fringe opinion of America. It wasn't until later that I''d read the actual book, and for years, I knew HST only as a comedic genius with a style like Lenny Bruce. At the time, I would have been skeptical of anyone likening HST to Tom Wolfe.

Now, as an adult, I know that they are in fact cut from the same cloth. Although Tom Wolfe looks like a straight-laced square with too much money and too much time on his hands who gets in and out of limos for a living, his 'New Journalism' cut to the core of America and lampooned, criticized and recorded what he felt was history. Most at the time wouldn't have considered his work as history- many now probably still don't- but there is no denying that it is American History. HST is right there with him, turning the new journalism into American History, accessible and biased from a completely different perspective than we're used to.

Not all of the essays here are worth reading, and not all of them are completely relevant. The'72 campaign and all of the details about McGovern and Humphrey has become obsolete, lost in the annals of history and long, long forgotten even by its own participants. The bulk of the essays in this volume, though, show us the keen eye of a master observer and a complete understanding of those he was observing. To think that these essays were published in Rolling Stone magazine boggles my mind. At one time Rolling Stone must have taken itself very seriously as a source of news and politically relevant commentary, instead of a hype rag for bloated rock-n-roll musicians. Reading this book is like taking a tour of America through the eyes of HST and it is worth every penny you pay to see the sights. Tom Wolfe said that HST was a modern Twain. He wasn't kidding. It's too true.

[Christopher Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

HST is best taken in small doses. This is a 500pp. beast of a book. I don't recommend reading it cover-to-cover unless you want HST Burnout. Leave by the side of the bed or the crapper or wherever you read and pick it up from time to time.

The book is a collection of HSTs political (and other) writings spanning some 40 years, though the bulk is dedicated to the Nixon-Ford-Carter years. There are also some copies of correspondence between HST and Rolling Stone magazine, but these added very little to the book, in my opinion.

When HST was "ON" there was nobody better. The good thing is, HST was mostly "ON" during the years dominating this book (1970s) and hadn't yet descended into the lackluster clownish burnout of "Hey Rube." Though, one must give credit to the editors of the book. The limited selections from the early 2000s which close out the book do so in brilliant fashion, showing that HST still had a crisp political mind and the ability to express it in his epic writing style up to the end.

Fans of HST, American politicians and/or the American political system will not be disappointed. This view of the American political system and its characters could only be given by HST and in that context he delivers. There are other topics involved as well (sports among them) which add some flavor, but the bulk seemed to be HSTs political rants and exploits along various campaign trails.

If you are the "I like HST" type of person, but are not a huge fan, this book is best read in small doses from time to time. I got HST burnout by the end by going cover to cover.

HST was a force to be reckoned with and his unique voice, style, and life allowed him to pontificate on a wide variety of subjects over a very long career. This book definitely does justice to that.

[Todd Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hunter S. Thompson’s work at its best comes across like a whirlwind of manic absurdity.

With few exceptions Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone is not Thompson at his best. It’s workman-like journalism with a light Thompson-esque flare covering events that have long since ceased to be relevant. There are also the allegations that Thompson’s editor, Jann Wenner, significantly revised the original text … but I’ll leave that for the Thompson scholars to debate (I would have forgiven them had the result kept me entertained).

I quit about a quarter of the way through.

Two stars - one of which is for the excerpt from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[Mlhoganjr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of these essays are bits and pieces of much longer articles available in HST's collections such as Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 or The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time. This serves as a sort of Best Of/Hits Collection of Thompson's essays. I'd recommend going to the full-length essays instead. The only "new" material here are the correspondence between Thompson and others. Yet even this can often be found in the two compilations of letters that Thompson thankfully saved during his lifetime.

[Mick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember laughing at Hunter's books years ago. His gonzo stories may have been funnier back then, perhaps I've aged and mellowed. The dope and drugs don't humor me anymore, but the outrageous stories are still hilarious. Occasionally his stories are right on target. One of my favorite quotes is, "But the prevailing attitude among journalists with enough status to work presidential campaigns is that all politicians are congenial thieves and liars." Damn, this will never change.

[Post Defiance]

Originally posted at http://postdefiance.com/literary-gift..., written by Sweet Pea Flaherty.

Thompson made his name writing masterpieces, like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Rum Diary, but made his literary home at Rolling Stone, writing for the magazine for more than three decades. This book collects his best writings, including previously unpublished correspondence between Thompson and his editor.

[Tegan]

On the one hand, i want to give this 5 stars because I enjoy Hunter's writing, however given the many other reviews stating that the articles were heavily edited, I don't really know how to rate. It took me a long time to read, definitely not one to read in one go to save from HST burnout. I'd like to read the original articles and compare them to the book.
Overall, it felt like something was missing, but I can't put my finger on it.

[Patrick Ronan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pace, pace, pace is what makes HST so special, and how it changes according to what he's on - your own reading speed and his sputtering prose match up with Thompson's drug of choice. I've never slogged down a half gallon of Wild Turkey - but I think I know how it'd make me feel, thanks to Hunter's one of a kind writing.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read during a trip in Aspen since the book has multiple Aspen references. Overall it was a good introduction to HST's writing, but as the title implies it is limited to his Rolling Stone writing, so misses out on some important HST work. I wish it had focused a bit less on Campaign '72 even though that was an important chunk of his work at RS.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustrating. For all the reverence of 'Gonzo journalism', there's little journalism in this book to be found. Just meandering columns by someone who, especially in his coverage of the Presidential election, is an outsider who doesn't much like his job, nor the prospect of becoming an insider.

[Mike Hammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hunter Thompson has a sprawling, gripping style that is focused in the direction nobody else goes and he is funny and smart. These articles are all worth reading,=. They are not the most well structured pieces and ramble sometimes, but that and hs rage are part of his charm.

[David Buseman]

This book made me realize how very little I care about the 1972 Presidential election. I Stopped reading it and won't be counting it on my "How many books..." list. Was hoping it would be more like "Curse of Lono" or "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas". No dice. Ah well...

[Jack Bunce · Rating 3 out of 5]

His writing is excellent, but many of the topics are outdated for a young reader (unless you know a lot about US politics in the 60's/70's). Some essays were hilarious, some I just couldn't get into because they were so distant.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting historical look back at some very important times in American history particularly the Nixon era in light of what is going on now in the US. He had a demented, hilarious, paranoid view of the world and I wish he were here now to comment on these times.

[Tomaso Frater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Smell A Rat

In the acknowledgments for this novel David Rosenthal, editor in chief of Simon & Schuster for thirteen years, is explicitly thanked for "[proffering] contracts and cash advances that kept Hunter afloat... and set this anthology up at S&S." As a reader, I am indebted to Rosenthal for the opportunity to get a better impression of Thompson and view his publications at Rolling Stones with insightful commentary and personal correspondences.

"The only difference between the sane and the insane is that the sane have the power to lock up the insane." - Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear

Hunter was insane. There, I said it. His thoughts might have been coherent till he met his end, or better yet, engineered it, but Clinton and Bush are right to be dumbfounded by how his mind worked. No sane person would publish the things he did.

He was a great man, and I am sure he could be fun to hang out with, but I wouldn't have wanted to be his friend and I don't think he would like me in the first place.

I embarked on the adventure of reading this compilation of Hunters journalistic works thinking I would be swept off my feet. I stand even steadier on my two feet in the conviction that while Hunter was a character, he is not entirely admirable. If someone is willing to change my mind, I am open to their wisdom.

Yr. buddy, Thomas

[Christopher Selmek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hunter S. Thompson is unarguably one of the best known journalists of the 20th Century. For anyone who became curious about him because of Johnny Depp's portrayal or Doonesbury's Uncle Duke, this book is the best overview of all Thompson's stuff, interspersed with communiques to his editor. It certainly displays his personality and gives an indication as to the breadth of his subject matter.

There is some historic value to these pieces, as well. Thompson writes an awful lot about George McGovern, who lost to Nixon in the presidential election of 1972. From 50 years in the future there's not much anyone is still aware of about this election, but it's interesting to see the personalities take shape as Thompson describes the contest. He brings a unique insight to politics, having begun his tenure at the Rolling Stone writing about his own run for Sherriff of Denver, and it makes the back and forth of even a long-done election seem exciting.

[AD LAND · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was mostly mighty fine writing by the man who invented the gonzo genre. On several stories, such as Las Vegas, Ali, and Carter, I wanted more and on a few, such as the Elko story, less. Given that this was edited by RS, I'll never know whether it was a touch of bad writing or bad editing. I do know that you shouldn't take this in one gulp/snort/inhale unless you want to risk ODing. I'm old enough to remember living through those stories; the '72 campaign provided plenty of compare and contrast moments with the already infamous '16 election. Thompson and I were apparently two of the twelve or so people who voted for McGovern in the thumping he took at the hands of the Nixon Evil Empire. Nice Nixon obit, by the way, but I thought he held back a bit.

In case you find yourself wondering, Ali beat Spinks in the rematch. I don't think this counts as a spoiler.

[Darcy Knorr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hunter is a strange figure to me. I have a teenage obsession with his vulgarity and sense of humour. When it works (which it mostly does here), it's fiercely entertaining. I think some of this stuff just suffers a bit from a lack of context on my part. With more prior knowledge of past American politics, the figures involved, etc., I'm sure it would've gripped me more. Regardless, his commentary is hilarious and feels almost unquestionable, despite coming from a lunatic. Journalism is far more compelling when it doesn't pretend to be some arbiter of absolute truth. People are biased and crazy, and that is never more on show than when I read Hunter.

The Ali and Palm Beach sections were surprising highlights.

[Ryan Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good look at the full spectrum of Thompson's writing.

I'd argue he's at his best when he's approaching the normal journalistic conventions (Strange Rumblings in Atzlan, and his time with Muhammad Ali). This anthology provides some standout works of this type.

There are also numerous examples of Thompson absolutely rambling about nothing and making his assignments all about himself and his own personal dysfunctions. I'd say the charm of this style of writing, while potentially humorous, wears off pretty fast. That's where it loses a star.

Overall, this is an entertaining read with a lot of variety. Every reader will probably find at least a few enjoyable selected works within.

[Gnosis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine history of mid-to-late 20th Century filtered through speed, marijuana and mescaline. Hunter S Thompson is a fine political journalist and not just a flyswat wielding jester as his public image may be.
My favourite pieces were "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan," "The Battle of Aspen", "Last Tango in Vegas," "A Dog Took My Place," and "Hey Rube I Love You."
I was actually less engaged by the endless campaign trails but his excellent prose kept me engaged. I would imagine having read The Rum Diary, Fear and Loathing and this collection, that the only HST 'necessary' for me to aspire to read now is his Hells Angels book.