The Gonzo Papers Anthology

The Gonzo Papers #1-3

by Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson was the creator of a new kind of journalism and invented a new style of writing. Gonzo was a wild often drug- and drink-fuelled adventure, in which Thompson examined the politics, people, and values of his times.

In the three great collections of Gonzo writings, "The Great Shark Hunt", "Generation of Swine", and "Songs of the Doomed", he dissected the 60s, 70s, and 80s with violence, wit, anger, and occasional compassion.

Collected together for the first time, "The Gonzo Papers Anthology" is an indispensable compendium of decadence, depravity, and a remarkably skewed common sense.

'No other reporter reveals how much we have to fear and loathe, yet does it so hilariously' Nelson Algren

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism, Biography, History, Politics

1238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

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

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volumes comprises The Great Shark Hunt, Generation of Swine and Songs of the Doomed. It isn't HST's collected journalism reprinted in book form - Better than Sex, Kingdom of Fear and Hey Rube aren't included.

The book raises a simple question: how best to represent HST's work? The answer is: some way other than this.

What was really needed was a greatest hits. All the strongest pieces should have been included (along with HST's brutal obituary for Richard Nixon, curiously not in this volume), set out in chronological order, with all filler, copy faxes and other marginilia excised.

[Malcolmaffleck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review - as a collection of articles, it suffers overall from the fact that some - for instance, the description of riding his motorbike through Californian highways (which is printed twice in the book, due to the anthology being made up of three different books) is an outstanding piece of writing, whilst some - the article listing the freebies he manages to have got from the Solider of Fortune trade show are simply a waste of time. So, some of the articles are 5 star, some 4, some 3, some 2 and some 1. Overall, a 3 star book but if you only want to read some of the articles the following are pretty much essential:

Kentucky Derby Article (to see the start of Gonzo journalism)
Articles on Life with the Hell's Angels (including the aforementioned description of motorbike riding, which Hunter S Thompson claimed was his favourite piece of writing)
Articles on Life with the chicanos - don't know if that is politically correct anymore!

However, if you do read the whole thing, it does become interesting at the end as the final section of the book includes Hunter S Thompson's own overview of the events, and random occurrences earlier in the book are mentioned, making it feel like a story you have heard almost first hand.

[Omar El Jundi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an anthology of anthologies and maybe a bit excessive if you just want to get acquainted with Hunter S. Thompson's writing.

I did enjoy it overall and felt I got to know the man. I'll grant that he was a talented writer, a unique journalist but also a very flawed character. And his flaws only come across because he put it all out there in writing and that's something to be grateful for.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as Thompson papers go, this is surely an essential! A huge book, but worth it if you are interested in Thompsons backlist, with a few very interesting extras aswell.

[matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

ongelofelijk

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

All great stuff...