Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson
Jann Wenner & Corey Seymour
(Little, Brown)
Hunter S. Thompson, the king of Gonzo journalism, lived a reckless, fast-paced and hilarious life. Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that favours subjective experience over objective reporting. It was championed by Thompson's who was one of the figureheads of the style in the 1970s.
The oral history Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson, collaborated by Jann Wenner and Corey Seymour, includes some of the funniest, sombre, nail-biting and shocking tales of Thompson's 68 years as told by those who knew him.
Hunter was a drug addict and heavy drinker for most of his life and lived in a way that only he could. He was a contradiction in almost every way. He had friendships with some of the most notable American politicians of his day as well as the leaders of the notoriously dangerous biker gang, Hells Angels. In public he tried to recreate the intense and manic character Raoul Duke from his famous novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas while in private he was a hopeless romantic who loved his grandson dearly.
There were few things constant in his life. Writing was one. This is shown through the accounts featured in the biography. Whether the person being interviewed is politician, bartender, colleague, friend or ex-wife, all included recognise that Hunter was a wordsmith of the finest sort with a uniqueness and brilliance that cannot be repeated.
For such an unusual man like Hunter S. Thompson, who had a massive impact on journalism and literature across the world, an exceptional biography was needed. This is that biography.
The oral accounts that have been adapted to text make the biography fast-paced light reading. They are brief, simple stories, all the most quirky or memorable moments as told by those who were closest to Hunter. They will have you laughing, shocked, or thanking God you weren't there. The nature of these short oral accounts is true to Gonzo style: fragments of stories pieced together to seem random and disjointed but still, in some strange way, logical at the time.
Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson has restored my faith in the good biography. It has shooed away ideas of heavy hardcover books with tiny script that send my mind swirling with dates and place names. It's a fun, easy read that presents Hunter S. Thompson for all he was to those who knew him. A unique and enjoyable biography.
