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Great Shark Hunt (Gonzo Papers)

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Here's one book which collects, in scores of stories and articles spanning a few hundred pages, every facet of Hunter S. Thompson's career, in which he seamlessly transitioned from staid Air Force newspaper writer to roaming correspondent for the now-defunct _National Observer_ to edgy compatriot of the Hell's Angels to full-bore, drug-addled gonzo journalist. And everything inbetween, to boot.

Nowhere else is the richness of Thompson's talent so fully illustrated than in _Shark Hunt_. Here, in "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved," a chronicle of the yearly madness in Thompson's hometown of Louisville, the reader experiences the earliest rumblings of what would later become a totally unique journalistic style that he further developed in "Fear and Loathing at the Super Bowl," also found here.

We are also treated to assorted dispatches from Thompson's travels throughout North and South America, written when he was a roaming correspondent for Dow Jones' _National Observer._ Here the true skill and power of Thompson's writing becomes apparent -- an observation both powerful and poignant when these writings are compared to his later works, making it clear that the drugs have indeed taken their toll on his remarkable mind.

For the new Gonzoist, excerpts are included from _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_ as well as _Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72._ Through not very useful if you own these books already, they still make for fun bathroom reading.

Also included are most, if not all, of Thompson's articles for "Rolling Stone" about the Watergate scandal and Nixon's resignation -- truly rollicking political tales full of savage grace and fiendish wit. Sadly lacking are Ralph Steadman's original drawings which accompanied the stories in RS.

There's more, too: stories about the "Brown Power" revolts in Los Angeles in the late 1960s; tales of Oscar Acosta, Thompson's mysterious Mexican-American lawyer friend who was the model for the "300-pound Samoan lawyer" in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Thompson's experiences in Muhammad Ali's training camp; his bizarre times with Jean-Claude Killy and O.J. Simpson as they travel through America hucking Chevrolets at auto shows in the early 1970s.

These are indeed strange tales from a strange time. Buy this book.

I've read all of Thompson's books, and nothing approaches Shark Hunt for sheer ferocity of intelligence, perception, and the gleefully lunatic Gonzo outlook. He put himself fearlessly and hilariously in the middle of his stories and thus changed both modern journalism and history itself as he rocked through some of the wildest times this country will ever see.

These are HST's finest magazine pieces from the 60s and 70s, chosen and edited by the author. His takes on Nixon and Ali and Vietnam are startlingly prescient, so dead-on in the hindsight of three decades that one begins to wonder why Thompson isn't ranked with Mailer and Capote and Vidal as one of modern America's most trenchant essayists.

He's certainly funnier than all of them put together, with a uniquely skewed stance full of outrage and insanity. Sure, F&L In Vegas gets all the attention, but that book is mainly full-on Gonzo, and, while truly classic, hardly touches this collection for depth of insight and understanding of one of the most vital and transformative periods in American history.

The essay on Haight-Ashbury alone is worth the price of this tome; he lived there before the lunacy started and stayed through to its peak, and presents the tale as only one who tripped through the flaked-out soul of that time could. There are sentences in that piece that are pure poetry, some of the finest dissection the 60s ever saw...and that's just the tip of this glorious literary iceberg that melts happily from the hand into the mind.

Thompson had a style that is oft-imitated but never approached, and here we see him crafting that style as the years go by, emerging as one of the most unique essayists this country has ever produced. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that HST is the most hilariously readable of modern American non-fiction writers...and this is his magnum opus.

If you like to laugh while you think about what really matters, this is your baby.

Not to be missed.

I know Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the "Great Work" for which he will be forever remembered and deservedly so. However, Shark Hunt is a kind of Penguin Reader of the Essential HST and as such is the indespensable survey of the glory years.

I read this six or eight times between the ages of 19 and 22. If you have a brain ripe for warping, crack this one some time.

In a review of Hunter Thompson's later journalistic work compiled under the title , Song Of The Doomed, a retrospective sampling of his works through the early 1990s, many of the early pieces which appeared in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine during its more radical, hipper phase, I noted the following points that are useful to repost here in reviewing The Great Shark Hunt, an earlier, similar compilation of his journalistic pieces:

"Generally the most the trenchant social criticism, commentary and analysis complete with a prescriptive social program ripe for implementation has been done by thinkers and writers who work outside the realm of bourgeois society, notably socialists, like Karl Marx. Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky and other less radical progressive thinkers. Bourgeois society rarely allows itself, in self-defense if nothing else, to be skewered by trenchant criticism from within. This is particularly true when it comes from a man of big, high life appetites, a known dope fiend, a furious wild man gun freak, and all-around edge city lifestyle addict like the late, massively lamented, massively lamented in this quarter in any case, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Nevertheless, although he was far, very far, from any thought of a socialist solution to society's current problems and would reject such a designation, I think out of hand, we could travel part of the way with him. We saw him as a kindred spirit. He was not one of us-but he was one of us. All honor to him for pushing the envelope of mad truth-seeking journalism in new directions and for his pinpricks at the hypocrisy of bourgeois society. Such men are dangerous.

I am not sure whether at the end of the day Hunter Thompson saw himself, or wanted to been seen, as a voice, or the voice, of his generation but he would not be an unworthy candidate. In any case, his was not the voice of the generation of 1968, my generation, being just enough older to have been formed by an earlier, less forgiving milieu, coming of adult age in the drab Cold War, red scare, conformist 1950s that not even the wildly popular Mad Men can resurrect as a time which honored fruitful and edgy work, except on the coastal margins of society. His earlier writings show that effect. Nevertheless, only a few, and with time it seems fewer in each generation, allow themselves to search for some kind of truth even if they cannot go the whole distance. This compilation under review is a hodgepodge of articles over the best part of Thompson's career, the part culminating with the demise of the arch-fiend, arch-political fiend, Richard Nixon. As with all journalists, as indeed with all writers especially those who are writing under the pressure of time-lines and for mass circulation media, these pieces show an uneven quality. Hunter's manic work habits, driven by high dope infusions and high-wire physical stress, only added to the frenzied corners of his work which inevitably was produced under some duress, a duress that drove his hard-boiled inner demons onward. However the total effect is to blast old bourgeois society almost to its foundations. Others, hopefully, will push on further.

One should note that "gonzo" journalism is quite compatible with socialist materialism. That is, the writer is not precluded from interpreting the events described within a story by interposing himself/herself as an actor in that story. The worst swindle in journalism, fostered by the formal journalism schools, as well as in the formal schools of other disciplines like history and political science, is that somehow one must be `objective'. Reality is better served if the writer puts his/her analysis correctly and then gets out of the way. In his best work that was Hunter's way.

As a member of the generation of 1968 I would note that the period covered by this compilation was a period of particular importance in American history, the covering of which won Hunter his spurs as a journalist. Hunter, like many of us, cut his political teeth on wrestling with the phenomena of one Richard Milhous Nixon, at one time President of the United States, all-around political chameleon and off-hand common criminal. His articles beginning in 1968 when Nixon was on the rising curve of his never ending "comeback" trail to his fated (yes, fated) demise in the aftermath of the Watergate are required reading (and funny to boot). Thompson went out of his way, way out of his way, and with pleasure, skewering that man when he was riding high. He was moreover just as happy to kick Nixon when he was down, just for good measure. Nixon, as Robert Kennedy in one of his more lucid comments noted, represented the "dark side" of the American spirit- the side that appears today as the bully boy of the world and as craven brute. If for nothing else Brother Thompson deserves a place in the pantheon of journalistic heroes for this exercise in elementary political hygiene. Anyone who wants to rehabilitate THAT man before history please consult Thompson's work.

Beyond the Nixon-related articles that form the core of the book there are some early pieces that are definitely not Gonzo-like. They are more straightforward journalism to earn a buck, although they show the trademark insightfulness that served Thompson well over the early part of his career. Read his pieces on Ernest Hemingway-searching in Idaho, the non-student left in the 1960's, especially the earnest early 1960s before the other shoe dropped and we were all confronted with the madness of the beast, unchained , the impact of the `beats' on the later counter cultural movements and about the `hippie' invasion of San Francisco. The seminal piece on the Kentucky Derby in 1970 which is his `failed' (according to him, not others) initial stab at "gonzo" journalism is a must read. And finally, if nothing else read the zany adventures of the articles that give us the title of the book, "The Great Shark Hunt", and his `tribute' to his friend the "Brown Buffalo" of future legend, Oscar Acosta. Those are high water marks in the great swirl of Hunter S. Thompson's career. Hunter, I hope you find the Brown Buffalo wherever you are. Read this book. Read all his books."

"Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" is his most famous book, and rightly so. But that was just one notorious blip in a long and notorious career. "Shark Hunt" collects Thompson's best work from the 60s and 70s, which is when the man was at his best, smartest and funniest. Read here his profound and alarming stories on Ali, Jimmy Carter, death and distaster in East LA, the Kentucky Derby, wars, riots, booze, himself, himself and himself. This is the stuff that made HST one of the greatest and most unconventional (and influential) journalists of his time. To understand Hunter S. Thompson and his work, the place to turn is not "Las Vegas," but here. The only complaint is that the Ralph Steadman drawings that accompanied the stories when they first appeared in Rolling Stone are sadly missing. A new special edition is probably in order...

This is great stuff from a fearless freak. Thompson never fails to both entertain me as a reader and educate me as a writer. He was unhinged and did not hold back. This is a great collection of dazed vignettes, crazed events, and hazed intents. The guy was out there, but it never drowned his talent. A must-read for those who want a deeper sense of the madness of our times, or who simply want a good read.

"When the going gets weird, the weird go pro."-Hunter S. Thompson

In a time of political peril and rancor in our countries capitol this book speaks volumes.

Hunter S. Thompson provides many snapshots into the American political system with this book. It is not a complete narrative. Rather this book is filled with high lights of Thompson's journalistic works. It is a collection of articles written for the "Rolling Stone," and various other publications.

Due undoubtedly to my youth, I have found the current state of America to be very disturbing. Reading this book has given me a chance to take a deep breath because the problems our country is facing are not new. They are just the same old problems we have always had.

If you are a person that likes to "Bush Bash," this book will give you plenty of new ammunition. Thompson's rants about Nixon are very similar to the things I have heard said about President Bush. Unfortunately, for all of us, the parallels are mostly negative. If President Clinton was a new John F. Kennedy, then "The Great Shark Hunt" has led me to believe President Bush is a new Richard M. Nixon.

Man, this really is the go-to book for HST fans, both seasoned and neophyte. From the article that fired off the whole Gonzo phenomenon - "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" - to Thompson's musings on Oscar Zeta Acosta and Richard Nixon, this is by far the best collection of HST writings both from a quality and a historical standpoint. Many fans, even the hardcore ones, feel that Hunter's output in the 80s and 90s just wasn't as good as those early stories, and this book will show you why. Back when the man was first starting out and trying to put bread on his table, he could be found trotting around the globe covering stories without any regard for his own personal safety. By the mid-to-late 80s he seemed content to hole up in his Colorado cabin and cover sports and politics from his satellite. Most of these writings were fine in their own right - Hunter never out and out embarrassed himself - but there was a certain vitality lacking that was all-too-present in those early magazine articles. "The Great Shark Hunt" is an epic account of those days when HST was not only interesting as a cult figure but also relevant as a journalist.

I dont often write reviews. This book, however, was so profound and culturally enlightning, that I could not pass up the opportunity to rave about it. I was born in the late seventy's in a conservative household in Texas. Needless to say, I never knew how admirable Carter was, or the hopes of the counter-culture movement (only the failures). Thompson writes very personal pictures of people, from Muhamid Ali to Jimmy Carter to the Hell's Angels that he had the opportunity to ride with. This is a brilliant work!

I first read this book when it came out and it is one of the few books I return to read over the years. Of Thompson's "Best Of's" (he has three "best of" volumes the author titles as "Gonzo Papers"), The Great Shark Hunt is easily the best. The book has very rare articles by the author in his formative years in So. America, as well as his best work from the height of his talent and fame (the 1970s). A good companion piece to "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" (the author's finest work and recently inducted as a Modern Library piece) and his insider look with "Hells Angels". The man has a mastery of the English language in a simple, flowing, humorous way