Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 [Paperback]

Hunter S. Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 26, 2012

Forty years after its original publication, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 remains a cornerstone of American political journalism and one of the bestselling campaign books of all time. Hunter S. Thompson’s searing account of the battle for the 1972 presidency—from the Democratic primaries to the eventual showdown between George McGovern and Richard Nixon—is infused with the characteristic wit, intensity, and emotional engagement that made Thompson “the flamboyant apostle and avatar of gonzo journalism” (The New York Times). Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively readable, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is an epic political adventure that captures the feel of the American democratic process better than any other book ever written.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The best account yet published of what it feels like to be out there in the middle of the American political process.” —The New York Times Book Review

“The best stuff on the campaign I’ve read anywhere.” —The Washington Post

“An American original. He hit the high notes out on the ragged edge, and thousands of us heard him above the canned din of the safe center.” —Los Angeles Times

“Thompson should be recognized for contributing some of the clearest, most bracing and fearless analysis of the possibilities and failures of American democracy in the past century.” —Chicago Tribune

“Some of the finest political and social writing of our times.” —The Seattle Times

“Obscene, horrid, repellent . . . Driving, urgent, candid, searing . . . A fascinating, compelling book.” —The New York Post

About the Author

Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His books include Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, The Rum Diary, and Better than Sex. He died in February 2005.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Original edition (June 26, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451691572
• ISBN-13: 978-1451691573
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #235,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro December 5, 2012

By J. G. Nixdorf

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Now 40 years old, this book remains the definitive work of campaign-following gonzo journalism. Often imitated, never duplicated. Here in 2012, after an election chock full of what seemed like some of the worst bad craziness associated with a campaign in recent memory, it's both reassuring and a bit frightening to see just how little has changed in American politics in the last 40 years.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Between the Idea and the Reality...Falls the Shadow" July 4, 2012

By The Ginger Man VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

There are certain books that help define the tumultuous era between JFK's election and Nixon's resignation. Fear and Loathing can included in a list with The Best and the Brightest, Armies of the Night, Nixon Agonistes and All the President's Men. Just as importantly, each of these writers - Halberstam, Thompson, Mailer and Wills - infused their texts with a writing style that matched in virtuosity the events being covered.

Gonzo Journalism was well suited to a sixties journey to Vegas but is even more illuminating covering the 1972 election. Thompson is insightful enough to read the political currents of the campaigns and conventions while lending his own brand of craziness to an epoch of American electioneering that makes our rabid era look placid in comparison. He can start with an interesting observation such as: "Hubert (Humphrey) seems genuinely puzzled by the fast-rising tide of evidence that many once-sympathetic voters no longer believe anything he says." The author later stretches a bit to say that "Sending Muskie against Nixon would have been like sending a three-toed sloth out to seize turf from a wolverine." Soon, Thompson is describing Muskie's emotional collapse over the "Canuck letter" through a fantasy in which an Ibogaine induced candidate imagines that gila monsters are attacking his legs as he speaks from a train. The beauty of the text is that somehow, Thompson's nightmare version seems more real than what actually occurred.

Not to be overlooked are Englishman Ralph Steadman's wonderful and embittered illustrations such as Nixon waving to supporters behind a police line.... The book also includes a host of well chosen photos which stretch our vision of the era: Gary Hart planning with Warren Beatty; Sam Yorty waving from his touring bus; a CREEP button which reads "Acid, Amnesty, Appeasement: Vote McGovern;" Sammy Davis Jr's famous man hug of Nixon; and a shot of Thompson writing in sun glasses with 2 Miller High Lifes in front of him. The best photo of all catches McGovern's expression of visceral disappointment on the way to a press conference to announce that his new running mate had a history of (you can't make this stuff up) electric shock treatments.

Thompson admits his biases and argues that no writer can transcend his/her own preconceptions: "With the possible exception of box scores, race results and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms." Given his bias, however, Doctor Gonzo demonstrates, at times, an unequaled eye and unsparing observations. On the counter-culture: "The importance of Liking Yourself is a notion that fell heavily out of favor during the coptic, anti-ego frenzy of the Acid Era - but nobody guessed, back then, that the experiment might churn up this kind of hangover: a whole subculture of frightened illiterates with no faith in anything." On the 1968 Democratic nominee: "Hubert Humphrey is a treacherous, gutless old ward-heeler who should be put in a goddamn bottle and sent out with the Japanese current." On Ed Muskie's doomed campaign: "He talked like a farmer with terminal cancer trying to borrow money on next year's crop." On the appeal of the candidate from Alabama: "George Wallace is one of the worst charlatans in politics but there is no denying his talent for converting frustration into energy." On blind ambition: "A career politician finally smelling the White House is not much different at all from a bull elk in rut." On message discipline: "If God himself had showed up in Miami and denounced Nixon from the podium, hired gunsels from the Committee for the Re-Election of the President would have quickly had him arrested for disturbing the peace."

Fear and Loathing may no longer be topical in its 40th year edition but it remains as insightful, controversial and often hilarious political reporting. Thompson was not just the drug-crazed reporter made infamous by Johnny Depp. He is also one of the pioneering journalists of the last half of the 20th century and this book is by far his finest and most serious effort. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 40 Years Down The Road August 14, 2012

By Thomas Magnum HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

For anyone who enjoys following politics and political journalism, Hunter S. Thompson's Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72 is the Holy Grail. The book culls together articles Dr. Thompson filed from the road for Rolling Stone. The immediacy and genuine feel the articles conveys puts you right on the trail with all the various characters from the '72 Presidential race. It is less the Gonzo journalism of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and his other works of that era but more of a personal and thoughtful look at the path the country was going down. The 40th anniversary edition contains a new foreword written by current Rolling Stone politico Matt Taibbi. Mr. Taibbi is a worthy successor to Dr. Thompson, but the foreword is really not much more than a pointing out of the obvious debt that he and most current political writers owe to this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff March 10, 2013

By Bruce Adair

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My perceptions of political news coverage have significantly changed after reading this book. After looking past the hilarious stories of booze and drug addled nights I was able to apprehend the sad combination of hope and despair so prevalent in our national politics.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sure, its Hunter S Thompson February 12, 2013

By David R. Wakeman

Format:Kindle Edition

Hunter S Thompson may or may not have been trendy since he began being famous back in the 1960s. Who knows? I'm only old enough to know that he has always been linked to Gonzo journalism and being a bit of a character. That being said, this book is a very interesting take on the 1972 campaign for President.

You get a lot of the main characters and the narrative plays out against the backdrop of Watergate. Knowing how the story plays out over the next several years, there is still tension to the stories because you want to jump into the middle of the book and scream at all of the people involved: "Wait! Can't you see that Nixon is a devious crook! Don't you know that Nixon is going to bring the country to its knees in scandal?"

That being said, I should note that I read the book during the middle of the 2012 election. In reading the account of the 1972 election, I find myself wondering what Hunter might have had to say about Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Not to mention what he might have said about Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and any of the other cast of characters that make up what passes for political dialogue in 2012 or 2013 for that matter.

5.0 out of 5 stars very hard to follow and doesn't make sense. the perfect book about politics January 21, 2013

By Pete M

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Hunter Thomson created a new genre of writers. the Wikipedia entry about this book has it correct, it should be manditory reading for everyone who follows politics.It is apparent that this is a Hodge podge of article taped together in a book, and at times hard to follow. but well worth the read

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Thompson December 10, 2012

By Jason Backhouse

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Prime example of Gonzo journalism, still after all this time seems fresh and new. If you like Hunter S and his hyperbolic ways you'll love it. Recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic! November 7, 2012

By Wayland M Hubbart

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I reread Fear and Loathing in the run-up to the election of 2012. Two observations-- journalism, except for online sources such as Counterpunch, has really deteriorated since 1972 and Obama is no George McGovern.