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

I wish Amazon had a "No stars - comment" rating option. HST's work is strong enough to make this a 5 star book, especially if the pieces are new to the reader, but it's almost entirely a reprinting of work for which RS undoubtedly holds the copyright, and there's very little new, making it a one or two star for an HST fan.It is a nice collection of some spectacular HST writing, but if you're already a fan, you've probably already read most of it.There is very little new here, as most of it is RS articles re-published. In fact, it feels most of the book is Fear And Loathing: On The Campaign Trail; if you've read that, you've read much of this book.Fundamentally, though, this book is troubling for two reasons. One, it is just another bald-faced attempt at wringing more money out of HST's ghost by Mr. Wenner and co -- maybe, _maybe_ if there was any indication in the intro / cover / etc that the profits were being donated to a cause in line with HST's philosophies, that's ok. Otherwise, it's just craven greed. Two, it's another attempt by Mr. Wenner to make himself look better and HST worse... that says a lot when the other guy is, you know, dead. At least, in this version, it's _slightly_ less insulting in its "I'm actually a good guy!" and "HST was a terrible person!" character-assassination efforts, or at least it's not as aggressive in them. I can't shake the feeling that Mr. Wenner is either in denial of, ignorant of, or upset by the notion that HST is a main (the only?) reason RS ever became what it was, instead of just another local-rag newsletter rotting in a pile by the door of Rasputin Records, and his books are an effort to deal with it... and result in an unpleasant experience for the HST-fan reader. In this case, specifically, the "see! He slid over time! See! His new stuff (that I chose) is so much better than his later stuff (that I chose, from a collection of work that was written for a magazine he believed royally mistreated him)!" is particularly contrived. If you're a big fan of HST's work, unless you enjoy feeling stabby, skip this one.Reading it now, though, does leave two take-away messages: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I could pull quotes from the campaign-coverage material and publish it today, word for word, about current political events. And, thanks to the inclusion of a few letters by Mr. Wenner, the difference in skill between a hack/non-writer and a true genius with language is -abundantly- clear. I imagine Mr. Wenner included the letters he did to make himself feel better and/or attempt to put himself in a good light, but the jarring difference in authorial skill drives home how talented the good Doctor was, like including Salieri's music on the Amadeus soundtrack: "Wait, this is bland and unremarkable... [ checks CD case ] oh, it's Salieri." So, there's at least that of "new material value," I guess.Unless you've read -everything- else, the few new letters here aren't worth it. If you've only read Fear and Loathing and are looking for more material, this is a reasonable "best of," but consider looking elsewhere.

I didn’t know much about him him when he was alive. Which makes it even more painful now that he is gone. What an amazing mischievous, warped, perceptive and unbridled mind. I would give this book 10 stars… oh I know… I’ll read it twice.

I already have the Rolling Stone issues on DVD/CD, so I could read pretty much everything Hunter had published, but this book goes the extra mile, and includes the letters between Hunter and RS discussing the writings. Good touch, RS, makes the book worth the purchase, and sets up the sections very well. Of course the letters are written in the typical Hunter style, hard to tell what is real and what is fiction. But that's always been a huge reason why I like his work.I bought the book in Kindle format. No spelling/formatting errors that I have found. But then, I haven't seen any since the really early days of Kindle books, so I guess the proof-reading is working.There is a LOT of content here, it's a nice and long book. And, since it's divided up by his writing assignments, you don't need to read it in order at all, you can jump around to whatever chapter interests you.I've read a lot of his stuff in RS, but there was still enough new content in this book to make it well worth the price, even for someone who already had most of his work.Great book. Good job, RS.

A great Hunter Thompson collection. In this collection you can see Thompson's mind at work and his astute observations. Every time I read his works I feel the frantic energy with which he did everything jump off the page and slap me in the face and say wake up dummy I've got something to tell you pay attention! If you are new to Thompson's work this is a good place to start and if you're an old friend it's full of memories! As The Good Doctor would say "If the going gets weird the weird turn pro"! Man I turned pro a long time ago and thank you Hunter for helping me do it!

It doesn't get any more authentic than this: a bright and wildly imaginative child of the crazed middle 20th Century with an inner circle press pass and ringside seat to the cultural media circus, bent not just on exercising but demonstrating his Right To Free Speech. The whole solar system had line up for this perfect storm of journalism so twisted that it oozed truth. Kudos to Wenner for having the sack to introduce and continue to encourage Thompson. And thank you Dr Gonzo for the many ways you exercised your genius, always at the expense of some poor, babbling creation pop culture has foisted upon itself. You want to know where 20th Century America backed up the wrong siding? It's all in here.

This is a collection of several articles Hunter wrote for Rolling Stone magazine, including some correspondence between Hunter and Jann Wenner. Quite a romp down memory lane (for us older folks) or an introduction to Gonzo Journalism for the younger. For me, the best pat was reading the letters between Jann and Hunter that give you some of the flavor of the relationship between them. I feel sorry for the person assigned to get Hunter's work into print, considering that it was always late and sometime scrawled on yellow legal paper. In spite of this, they managed to make it into some of the most insightful reporting ever written. I can't imagine why some of these people EVER agreed to talk to Hunter, much less give him the kind of intimate access shown here. A great insight into a true "wild and crazy guy".

A new copy was advertised but I received a used copy. Nowhere in the prod description was it listed as used. I am 100% sure of that because I hate using books that came from a public library. I chose a new copy on the options page too. So there’s two failure points here!I’m not happy with the switch but I need the book asap for a project, so I’m forced to keep it.

While I am still in the middle of reading this Book, I am feeling like I'm on a trip down Memory lane. I've either had, or purchased every Book that He's ever written, and now I am thinking of Buying them,ALL OVER AGAIN!!.I Still miss that Old Lunatic!!,..Because He was the only one that I could call:"TOTALLY GONZO!!".

came as described

Great. Book.

Hunter knew the world was all going to hell long before it even happened. When I was younger (rebellious grunge teen/early 90's) I never really understood his obsession with the death of the american/democratic dream. I never really got his scrutiny of politics and/or his unwavering quest to maintain personal liberties and constitutional rights that he felt were under constant attack of being violated or taken all together. I simply thought gonzo journalism was awesome and the whole concept of it was both entertaining and rebellious, it was kind of fascinating. Fast forward 20 years and I find these works still entertaining but hauntingly disturbing as well. Behind that typewriter was what most people considered a drug fueled maniac, but was he? Of course we all know Hunter did alot of drugs, but for myself, I can't simply dismiss all these ramblings as a drug induced haze. They were right, he was right, shockingly so right I wonder how he knew? Stripped civil liberties, 9/11 backlash, invasion of privacy, collapsing economies, the advent of the death of the american dream? I don't know.. Am I going too deep with this? Am I the only one who thinks these things? Was his health that bad or did he just decide a bullet in his head was the final answer? He said he would, and he sure followed through, just like everything else, full bore, top gear, right to the end. We don't really have anybody like a Hunter anymore, RIP. If he was still alive could he even handle what's going on these days? Some people might think these post death works are a cash grab, all I can say is keep them coming because they're not only entertaining to me, they're thought provoking as hell. I for one highly recommend his musings and this book, it's a lost art form that the world "needs" right now more than ever. I've come full circle with Hunter and I think his journalism was written off too easily because of the drugs. There's important work here, and I think you will feel the same.

Not at all what I expected, don’t waste your money.