Hunter The Strange and Savage Life of Hunter S. Thompson [Hardcover]

E. Jean Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1993

A biography of the journalist who was the inspiration for Doonesbury's Uncle Duke features material culled from interviews with family, friends, ex-lovers, and such figures as Tom McGuane, George McGovern, Gay Talese, and others. 60,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Freelancer Carroll, who apparently debauched with the legendary gonzo journalist, recounts her experiences here in the precious, faux gonzo voice of a semi-fictionalized alter ego, Laetitia Snap ("Truth being excusable in a Biographer . . ."). She intersperses her Thompson escapades with an oral biography, assembling quotes rather than crafting a narrative. Carroll's interviewees--including Thompson's brother, mother, ex-girlfriend, ex-wife, colleagues, even George McGovern--offer many interesting observations on her subject's alienated youth, writing style, celebrityhood, behavior and journalistic influence. "He's both ultimately sane and crazy," declares one friend. Paul Perry's Fear and Loathing: The Strange and Terrible Saga of Hunter S. Thompson (Nonfiction Forecasts, Nov. 16) is a more coherent biography; also, although Perry had fewer sources than Carroll, he had one she didn't: Thompson's sidekick illustrator Ralph Steadman. First serial to Esquire.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1St Edition edition (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525935681
• ISBN-13: 978-0525935681
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi, dolls! I write the ASK E. JEAN column in ELLE magazine, the world's largest (and coolest) fashion magazine. I live in a little cabin on an island (it's about the size of a mattress) in upstate New York. I used to write for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and was a contributing editor to ESQUIRE and OUTSIDE. I always wanted to write a graphic novel and title it "OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB SELECTION," and fill it with cute pictures of my dogs (a Tibetan Mastiff, a pit bull, and a standard poodle----all rescued). I have noticed one thing about writing: when I get stuck I find that walking into the kitchen sixty or seventy times to eat something really helps.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for the Cover if nothing else!, February 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Saskatchewan, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunter The Strange and Savage Life of Hunter S. Thompson (Hardcover)

Since E. Jean Carroll's biography is rated the worst of available biographies, things are looking very good for my study of the gonzo master. Her fictional accounts of meeting with Hunter are funny and strange much like the events of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Perhaps more interesting to Thompson's fans are the quotes from his friends and colleagues that fill the pages up. Sit back, make yourself a dozen Bloody Marys and have a few laughs. I'm very excited about reading the "superior" biographies after enjoying this one so much.

Anyone who enjoys Hunter's wild scribblings about drugs, politics, and everything else that doesn't matter as much as drugs and politics will get a kick out of this book. As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. Thompson is well-flattered by this obscenely brilliant biography. Even if you disagree, you can still enjoy the magnifient cover of this book: he's wearing his trademark multicoloured jacket and holding a gun. A fitting tribute to the Good Doctor of Outlaw Journalism.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insanely Funny!!!, January 19, 2009

By 

Tome Raider (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hunter: The Strange and Savage Life of Hunter S. Thompson (Paperback)

I read this book well before the internet came my way, and thus without the benefit of all these negative reviews. Wow, was that lucky! I LOVED this book! It is written in a bizarrely humorous fashion. It essentially mimics (if not mocks) Hunter's writing style,as well as Hunter's paradegenerate personality. It is almost completely fictional (as I recall), and yet it captures all kinds of fundamental truths about HST.

I read this as I was recovering from a surgery, and I would laugh so hard that I thought for sure I was going to rip stitches and spill guts. I later loaned the book out and never saw it again. Only today was I able to identify it again--I recognized the cover. I am totally dumbfounded by all the negative reviews; just goes to show there is no accounting for taste.

I guess if you go into a book expecting one thing and it turns out to be another, disappointment can emerge. So, go into this realizing it is a satire/parody of HST and it makes good-natured fun of him. HST is not a God, for goodness sakes, and the humor here captures the man's well recognized devious personality.

This is out of print, but if you can ever grab a copy, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO SO. This is indeed gonzo reading. I've read a high percentage of stuff by HST and about HST and this is one of the best!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for a laugh., January 7, 2005

By 

Kyle Mole "Fingers" (U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunter The Strange and Savage Life of Hunter S. Thompson (Hardcover)

I have to take issue with the other reviewer who called Carroll's attempt at a bio on the un-dooable 'trite'... bollocks.
Yes she tries to emulate her mentor, no it's not as good as Hunter himself. But, the blow by blow accounts arent what one would call lies, as that's what Hunter does best, politics aside. This is a fantastic little book of insights, many of the stories already exist in one form or another, and it's nice to have them in one little compendium. The real stories of his adventures far outweigh the stories told about him, anyway.