Customer Reviews

Fear and Loathing: The Strange and Terrible Saga of Hunter S. Thompson

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I became a Hunter S Thompson fan early on. It was high school when I was in my more radical, experimental phase. Reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a whirlwind event. I had never encountered anything like it before. It was a bit more than my teenage mind could handle. HST immediately shot up the ranks of my favorite authors. He was explosive and also more accessible than the beats. There was always a sense of awe whenever the name of Hunter Thompson was invoked. The blend of journalism with fiction was a unique blend. It also seemed at times to hit on the truth more accurately than a lot of serious journalism. But before I go off about HST, let me get back to the bio at hand. This is not an authorized biography but I feel that it does shed some light on Thompson. It would seem that perhaps Thompson is receiving a bit of his own medicine here. Perry does give us some information on Thompson's childhood. He also gets into the early years of Thompson's career before the legend of Gonzo was born. This does help explain the development of this hick from Kentucky into a world renown icon of gonzo journalism. I would grant that a more definitive bio of HST could be written. There are others that I have yet to read. I was happy to get the info this book offers. I should tide me over until I read those books. HST is a fascinating figure in 20th Century America. This book is one piece to help solve the puzzle.

If you're expecting the blazing intensity of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," it is definitely not here. Perry is not Thompson. His writing is just barely adequate. I would recommend this book only to those who, like myself, are fascinated by Hunter S. Thompson and want to know more about the man. This book is overly long and drags at points. Some of the funniest and most exciting stories are marred by a writing style that borders on the drab. But we do get insights into the real Hunter S. Thompson, even if these insights do mar the illusion of perfect madness that is presented in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Like too many would-be Thompson fans, Perry is one of those waterheads who've helped wreck much of the Doctor's inisght and talent by praising the wrong tendencies. Yes, Thompson is a maverick. Yes, he has the guts to say things others would not dare breathe, and to do so with poetic incision. The fact he enjoys hoovering cocaine and sucking back Chivas Regal sno-cones may be intriguing. But the insight, the intelligence, the wit and the writing are why we read Thompson. Perry's "book" spends most of its worthless time working bad variations on the hackneyed theme of "that Hunter -- he's ka-ray-zee." Gee, really, Paul? If the book's inane superficiality weren't criminal enough, Perry compounds it by delivering his fake insights in jarring, scrambled syntax and a stinky combination of mangled metaphor and clumsy clichˇ. The final insult is a copy-editing job that leaves the wretched tome rife with glaring spelling, grammatical and factual errors. (They misspelled "Scottsdale AZ" in the "About The Author" note.) This book bites just as badly as E. Jean Carroll's execrable fiasco, but for different reasons. Avoid at all costs. Of the three bigraphies of Thompson printed in 1993, the only one worth reading is Peter Whitmer's. I know. I slogged through all three while reviewing them for The Globe & Mail, Canada's national newspaper.

This unauthorized biography artfully captures the life and times of Hunter S. Thompson, the father of Gonzo journalism. It covers his early years in Kentucky, his early life as a foreign correspondant and his later collaboration with the artist Ralph Steadman.

The book generally presents Thompson is a positive light, but it doesn't pull punches in how Hunter treated his wives, or the fictional aspects of Gonzo journalism. Indeed, he cites examples of "If it's not true, it should be" and where Hunter writes the most truthful political articles, even if they are not the most accurate. Indeed, much of the biography is about how Hunter inserts himself into the story, in essence creating it. This act of "the observer impacting the observed" is both a key problem with science, and a key pillar of Gonzo journalism.

After reading the book, you will in turn read his other works with more insight. Where does the author come from? How much is fact versus fiction? What is his spiritual link with Hemmingway? I hope you enjoy the answers as much as I have.

The one weak point is that the book has aged. Hunter S. Thompson has re-emerged in the past several years with more brushes with the law (shooting his assistant) and a job writing for ESPN magazine. It would have been interesting to get Mr. Perry's viewpoints on this.

It is impossible to read anything ever written by Thompson without being intrigued about who this guy is and if he is for real.This book answers many of questions regarding his history as well as his interactions with those around him. It is a very well wrought and researched piece about a very interesting subject.

This is an excellent book, one that I am glad is not written in the gonzo style.

Hunter's life is dissected and examined by Perry, who did a thoughtful and insightful work.

If you want gonzo, read Hunter, he is the only one who can write that way. If you want to read about gonzo and the mind behind it, this is your read.

Well, I really enjoyed this biography of the Gonzo Master, but I have to warn potential readers that the work was written in 1994 and was then reissued in 2004. It's narrative ends shortly after 1990, and, had I known this beforehand, I would not have bought the book. This was a bit of a disappointment because the later years of his life are deservant of full chapter treatment--and then some. His suicide is a mystery that cannot be illuminated here so be forewarned. As far as Perry is concerned, the author's perspective is outstanding as he clarifies much of Thompson's enigmatic personality. The sources he selects are also very enlightening. This Fear and Loathing, just like the original, was wonderful, but Perry's tale is not definitive unfortunately.

This is a fun book, no doubt about it. Granted, it's not Hunter Thompson writing, it's his life story, but it's certainly worth reading up on. The story is really fascinating and I will probably read it again before too long.

I originally bought this book out of necessity, I had to write a mammoth paper on The Good Doctor back in May and was short of sources. This was the best-looking book that I could find on Amazon, and I wasn't dissapointed by the package I recieved, just in the nick of time to read and then write my paper. Without this book, I would have been in trouble. Thank you Mr. Perry for writing this book and thank you Mr. Thompson for the life it documented. RIP Hunter.

Just finished this great unauthorized biography of HST.After having read several of HST's books,I was curious as to what he was really like and what made him tick.I am also a long time fan of Trudeau's Doonesbury and see the obvious similarities between the Duke and HST.Though a very enjoyable read, HST still remains as mysterious as ever.Maybe Perry has told us everything possible,and we might just as well accept him at face value. We're not ever likely to find out from the Dr. himself,whether he even knows or much less cares.The book gives us a lot of insight into his women folk and some of his cohorts.I use the word cohort because from this book I got the feeling that the idea of a friend is very different in the mind of HST.The most curious character that comes out in the book is Ralph Steadman.,the artist who seems to be cut from the same log as Hunter.It is definately a shame that about 20 or so of his drawings were not included.The cover certainly whets one's appetite for more.Anyone who has read a HST book should really like Perry,s book.

A late note!!!
The Doctor died on Feb 20,2005.
Rolling Stone Magazine has devoted practically its entire March 24,2005 issue to Hunter S. Thompson.A "must have" for any fan.
agazine

I found this book to be informative and well-written. The author was smart enough to avoid the Gonzo style of journalism that has made HST so famous and he was also smart enough to avoid the gonzo style of research that some of the other biographers pursued. As a result, we have a thoughtful and interesting book that reveals the method behind the madness, which is exactly the type of book that "Dr. Gonzo" doesn't want done.