Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: A Rollicking Ride Through the Essential Hunter S. Thompson

For the better part of two decades, wildman journalist Hunter S. Thompson ripped a savage path through the landscape of American politics and journalism. Punctuated by alcohol (rum and Wild Turkey) drugs, guns, fast cars and out-of control parties, Thompson utilized a wickedly astute eye, vulgar uninhibited language, supercharged imagination, an unfailing bullshit detector and a savage typewriter to lay open the American landscape of Vietnam, politicians, society, personalities, the Super Bowl and whatever else his furtive mind took aim at.

Thompson called it Gonzo Journalism. It was a swirling mess that was part fiction, part autobiography and part insightful reporting, all whipped into gut-grabbing long-form articles that told more truth than the "who what when where" of mainstream journalists. And for the most productive part of his career, those articles ended up on the pages of The Rolling Stone. They are collected here. There is some editing for length. But the editing is sparse, and the editors have done a masterful job of keeping the integrity of the original writing. 

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of his writing is how relevant Thompson's writing remains. Thompson's observations about the campaign of George Wallace in his epic piece "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972," does more to explain Donald Trump's surprise success than any current piece I have read.

His heart-wrenching, anger-drenched piece "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan" reports on the death of Chicano award-winning LA Times reporter Ruben Salazar, who was doing investigative reporting highly critical of the LA Police Department. Salaza was shot by LA Police at close range by a tear gas canister as he sat unarmed in a cafe as an anti-war protest took place outside. The shot took off the entire back of Salazar's head. There were no consequences for the police. In an age of police shootings in Chicago, Furguson, Cleveland and elsewhere, Thompson's reporting still rings true, while traditional news accounts have long since faded.

Who else but Hunter Thomson can give you an account of a drug-crazed, gun-toting, hooker-accompanied escapade with a familiar black judge only coincidentally written while Judge Clarence Thomas was going through his confirmation hearings (Fear and Loathing in Elko). It's outrageous. It's spit coffee through your nose funny. But at its core is a truth that the national media couldn't touch. 

At the heart of Hunter Thompson's writing, even when liberally peppered with fiction, was an unvarnished truth as Thompson saw it. Perhaps the best example was his obituary to Richard Nixon. Eschewing the "don't speak ill of the dead" mantra, his article "He Was A Crook" is a scathing recounting of Nixon's abuses and an unblinking view of how history should perceive him. 

This book captures all of Hunter Thompson's massive talent, along with notes and letters from the Rolling Stone's editors that reveal much of Hunter Thompson's personal troubled journey. It's a wild ride that will grab you by the throat and not let go. But that was Hunter Thompson.