The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) [Paperback]

Hunter S. Thompson (Author), Douglas Brinkley (Editor), William J. Kennedy (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 1998

Here, for the first time, is the private and most intimate correspondence of one of America's most influential and incisive journalists--Hunter S. Thompson. In letters to a Who's Who of luminaries from Norman Mailer to Charles Kuralt, Tom Wolfe to Lyndon Johnson, William Styron to Joan Baez--not to mention his mother, the NRA, and a chain of newspaper editors--Thompson vividly catches the tenor of the times in 1960s America and channels it all through his own razor-sharp perspective. Passionate in their admiration, merciless in their scorn, and never anything less than fascinating, the dispatches of The Proud Highway offer an unprecedented and penetrating gaze into the evolution of the most outrageous raconteur/provocateur ever to assault a typewriter.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This first volume of the correspondence of Hunter S. Thompson begins with a high school essay and runs up through the publication of Thompson's breakout book, Hell's Angels. Thompson apparently never threw a letter away, so the reader has the treat of experiencing the full evolution of his pyrotechnic writing style, rant by rant. The letters--to girlfriends, to bill collectors, to placers of "Help Wanted" ads, to editors and publishers--are usually spiced with political commentary. The style and the political animus always seem to drive each other. For instance, an 11/22/63 letter to novelist and friend William J. Kennedy about the day's cataclysm is apparently the birthplace of the signal phrase "fear and loathing." (Thompson summed up the Kennedy assassination thus: "The savage nuts have shattered the great myth of American decency.") And the willingness to write strangers is stunning: this collection includes Thompson's letter to LBJ seeking appointment to the governorship of American Samoa. You might have thought Garry Trudeau was exaggerating in his Doonesbury characterization of the Thompson-based character Duke. He was not. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

"I'm already the new Fitzgerald," Thompson declares gamely at age 19, in 1957, as his cracking lifelong correspondence gets under way. "I just haven't been recognized yet." The original gonzo journalist, who struck the big time with his book on the Hell's Angels ten years later (when this first volume of correspondence terminates), amply displays his talent for bragging?and barking?in these self-consciously irreverent, wordy, and often tender letters he was fond of banging out impulsively to friends like William J. Kennedy (Ironweed); magazine editors from whom he hoped to scare up work; youths who asked for career advice; Lyndon Johnson, when asking for the job of governor of American Samoa; and writers whose work he read with violent pleasure or loathing (Norman Mailer, William Styron, Nelson Algren). Thompson enjoyed messing up wherever he could but he never lost a grip on his desire to become a damn good writer. This is a shot in the liver for struggling writers and a searing testimony to an important moment in American journalism. Highly recommended.
-?Amy Boaz, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345377966
• ISBN-13: 978-0345377968
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Letters & Correspondence
  • #46 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Journalists

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Guess I'll Let Myself Out Now, February 21, 2005

By 

Joe Banks (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) (Paperback)

I read this book a few years ago, but never felt motivated to write a review until this sad day. HST killed himself last night--a tragic end to a savage, but noble, life. Over the years, I have read several of HSTs books and articles. They are all wildly original, fearless, brilliant, and (above all) LOL funny. Proud Highway is a fascinating read because it shows the evolution of HST's genius, from teenager through his maturation as a writer. You can see from the razor sharp, revealing letters the trials, tribulations, sacrifice, and hard work that transformed Thompson into the legendary, "gonzo" journalist he was. Despite his talent and humor, years of fear and loathing must have finally gotten to him. Rest in peace, Raoul Duke. You were a true American original and the world will be a poorer place without you.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Gonzo Education Course, December 1, 2004

By 

Trevor Seigler (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) (Paperback)

I first picked up this volume when it was brand new and I was a freshman at USC, just entertaining the notion of becoming a writer. Now, some seven years later, I finally got around to getting my own copy and finishing it recently, I can say it was worth the wait.

Hunter S. Thompson may have only been thirty when the book comes to a close, but he does so much living in the 12 years detailed that one can't help but feel envious. From his stint in the Air Force to his various travels cross-country and to South America, Thompson remains a fiercely independent creature throughout his letters, heaping scorn and praise upon those he corresponds with as he sees fit. The bulk of the first part concerns Thompson's unfruitful look for a steady writing assignment early on, and one feels the sense of desperation and (dare I say) fear and loathing he builds up for the workaday world. Thompson's muse carries him far and wide, to outposts both remote (the heart of deepest South America) and wellknown (New York, San Francisco). Through it all, Thompson never loses sight of his original passion for the written word.

Some of the letters are to family or friends, with some fiery dispatches to entities Thompson felt had hurt him or America in some way (imagine writing a letter to Dubya like the ones Thompson wrote to LBJ without getting the Secret Service breathing down your neck). The friends that Thompson collects range from obvious (Hells Angels, other struggling literati), to the baffling (I had no idea Charles Kuralt and Thompson knew one another). Throughout, Thompson's savage wit and fiery temper burn through even the most customary notes to landlords or editors.

In some ways, Thompson's constant refrain of the "n-word" is disturbing to more modern readers, but like the great writers of the past he is a product of his times. To omit the phrase or other derogatory terms Thompson used in the original letters would be to deny the authenticity of his feelings, and once any initial shock wears off it becomes apparent that Thompson may not even be using the term to refer specifically to African-Americans. That was my only qualm with the content, and it's a credit to his maturity over the course of the years contained that Thompson seems to be far more liberal than his peers from Kentucky.

The first volume made me want to go out and buy the second right away, if only to see what predicaments the Great Gonzo finds himself in. No one wrote letters quite like HST, letters that could stand in their own right as bizarre snapshots of an America in transition. I've even found my own e-mail length increasing mightily since I began the book (for which I apologize to anyone from here on out who I send an unusally long e-mail to). You'll come away from this book with a deeper appreciation for the work Thompson has done to document the death of the American Dream. Captured within these pages are his first inklings that such a thing has come to pass.

From fellow journalists like William Kennedy and Tom Wolfe to LBJ and the NRA, Thompson's letters reflect the wide spectrum of Sixties personalities. Perhaps the most engaging character throughout is Thompson himself. For all his egotism, he is a great writer. The proof is in this book.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Effort...., July 2, 2001

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CMOS (US) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) (Paperback)

If you've never read any of Thompson's works, I recommend you *not* start with this one. Buy a used copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (it's a relatively short book), read it and see what you think. You'll probably draw one of two conclusions: 1.Thompson is some kind of psychotic who should be put under surveillance, or 2. You'll find his stories hilarious and unlike any you've read before.

If you end up in the latter category, then buy this book. It will immediately give you a sense of how this man grew into his profession and how he became the person he is. However, that is not to say it's necessarily an easy read. Like any treasure hunt, you'll have to do some digging to find the gems in this collection -- some passages are a bit dreary if not downright depressing. But every chapter contains stories or commentaries which are truly priceless. I started reading this book on a long flight across country; I laughed out loud so many times my fellow passengers probably wanted to strangle me. Hell, I wanted to strangle me ... but I couldn't help it. Thompson's commentaries on the powers that be, relationships, and a host of other subjects are so brutally funny it's impossible not to laugh aloud at times. Not if you have a pulse....