Songs of the Doomed [Paperback]

Hunter S. Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 3, 2002

First published in 1990, Songs of the Doomed is back in print -- by popular demand! In this third and most extraordinary volume of the Gonzo Papers, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson recalls high and hideous moments in his thirty years in the Passing Lane -- and no one is safe from his hilarious, remarkably astute social commentary.

With Thompson's trademark insight and passion about the state of American politics and culture, Songs of the Doomed charts the long, strange trip from Kennedy to Quayle in Thompson's freewheeling, inimitable style. Spanning four decades -- 1950 to 1990 -- Thompson is at the top of his form while fleeing New York for Puerto Rico, riding with the Hell's Angels, investigating Las Vegas sleaze, grappling with the "Dukakis problem," and finally, detailing his infamous lifestyle bust, trial documents, and Fourth Amendment battle with the Law. These tales -- often sleazy, brutal, and crude -- are only the tip of what Jack Nicholson called "the most baffling human iceberg of our time."

Songs of the Doomed is vintage Thompson -- a brilliant, brazen, bawdy compilation of the greatest sound bites of Gonzo journalism from the past thirty years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This third installment of the Gonzo Papers is a chronologically arranged selection of stories, letters, journals and reporting, allowing readers to see how Thompson's brand of "new journalism" has evolved over the years. (Nov.)no PW
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Washington Post Book World Songs of the Doomed allows us to track Thompson's evolution as a writer, and hence the evolution of the form he played such a major role in creating.

Tom Wolfe There are only two adjectives writers care about anymore..."brilliant" and "outrageous"...and Hunter Thompson has a freehold on both of them.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743240995
• ISBN-13: 978-0743240994
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hunter S. Thompson's books include Fear and Loathing in America, Screwjack, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Proud Highway, Better Than Sex, The Rum Diary, and Kingdom of Fear. He was contributor to various national and international publications, including a weekly sports column for ESPN Online. Thompson died February 2005.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sampler December 24, 2002

By Christopher Grattan

Format:Paperback

This is an excellent introduction to the range of Thompson's writings through the early 1990's. It includes samples of his two early novels (Prince Jellyfish, The Rum Diary) and articles and excerpts from his later journalism and fiction ("Let The Trials Begin" is worth the price of the book).No duplication of material from The Great Shark Hunt, his earlier collection. An excellent audio version was released when the book was first published.
This book gives you some idea of what he was up to during the time covered by the two volumes of letters he's published and shows that his humor and sense of outrage have matured better than, say, Mark Twain's during a comparable stretch of his writing career.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars When the going gets weird, it's never any better than this October 19, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

HST never ceases to amaze me - since being introduced to the man's work by Warren Ellis' TRANSMETROPOLITAN I have eagerly devoured the good doctor's many works. Yet none of them can hold a candle to "Songs of the Doomed". If HST were a musician (and he is, on occasion, but I digress) then this book would be his greatest hits: an easily accessible compliation of the greatest "bits" of Gonzo from the past thirty years. Excerpts from "The Rum Diary", all the Fear and Loathing books, his short stories, his journalistic pieces from South America... even Hunter's fourth amendment battle with the sherrif of Pitkin County (which delayed "Better than Sex" for some time) is mentioned, showing that the Doctor has no shame, nothing to hide but a hell of a lot to tell anyone intelligent enough to listen.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Songs of the Doomed February 8, 2000

By nate schwessinger

Format:Hardcover

Follow Dr. Hunter S. Thompson on his manic trail of drugs, degeneracy, and discovery through the sixties, seventies, and into the eighties, a decade he has labeled the "Generation of Swine." The good Doctor is at it once again, and no one is safe from his hilarious yet amazingly accurate social commentary. Relax and let Thompson fill your body and soul with horrible tales from the death of the American Dream and other demoralizing corners of modern life.

Songs of the Doomed contains Thompson's famous article about the Pulitzer divorce trial, "Bad Craziness in Palm Beach: I Told Her it Was Wrong," which is the summit of ths poignant book. Dr. Thompson delves into a life reserved for the seriously rich. A place where "price tags mean nothing and pampered animals are worshiped openly in churches...the rules are different here, and the people seem to like it that way...there are bizarre trials over money occasionally and hideous scandals like a half-mad 80 year-old heiress trying to marry her teenage Cuban butler."

So relax, enjoy and "Let the good times roll!"

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Doctor Gonzo mumbles, he shoots AND. . . kinda scores. July 9, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Audio Cassette

The cover of this audiobook clearly states that it is read by the author. That is only partially true. The first three minutes are read by the author, and then they bring in some yutz actor to finish the job, because Hunter got too drunk. You can literally hear the scotch swishing around in his glass while he tries to mumble through the words. He starts, he stops, he starts again, he questions his own prose, he has a drink, he starts all over, he has another drink, he starts, he gives up, and then he decides to start shooting his gun. That gives him a rhythm, and just as he starts rolling, they dub in an actor.

sigh. What's a true fan to do? Fact is, the only reason to buy this tape if you're a true fan is for long car trips -- then it's damn near indispensable, like the keys, the travellers checks, and the heroin. Otherwise, it's not terribly well done, and a large chunk of the thing is just not all that good. Still, other than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it's the only one of his books I know of on tape.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Death of the American Dream - Lives October 21, 2011

By stoic VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Rating - 7/10

Summary -Thompson shows his readers that he still hasn't lost his fastball. This collection is uneven - and not Thompson's best - but fans will still enjoy it.

Review - After Hunter S. Thompson's dreadful Generation of Swine (1988), I was tempted to write him off as a total has-been. Swine was so bad that I thought that HST might finally have gone "one toke over the line" and lost his muse, forever. Songs of the Doomed, then, is a nice surprise - a modest success that will appeal to HST's devoted fans.

The best stuff in Songs is fantastic. In a section on the 1960s, Thompson gives some history on some of his famous works. In an excellent, short 1976 piece titled "High-Water Mark" (pp. 140-142), Thompson recounts what it was like to participate in the 1960s; he realized - even then - that the experience would not come again. Another favorite is "I Told Her It Was Wrong" (pp. 191-206) - a pure-Gonzo, Rolling Stone article on the Roxanne Pulitzer divorce trial in Palm Beach. There are several other great pieces in Songs.

As much as I enjoyed the short articles, Song's real treats were excerpts from two unpublished novels. The first is Prince Jellyfish, a coming-of-age tale set in 1950s Manhattan. The excerpts of Jellyfish - while only pretty good - are interesting, as Thompson's first (known) attempt at a novel. Even better is The Silk Road, a novel set in the Florida Keys during the Mariel boat lift (1980). The tale concerns drug and immigrant smuggling, a sexual triangle, and lots of Gonzo behavior. Chances are that both novels remain unfinished, or finished only in draft form. So, Thompson's fans will pine over "what might have been" after reading the excerpts....

Though I am a Songs fan, it has drawbacks - which are also apparent in Thompson's other late-career writing. The material is uneven and the reader has to wade through the failures to get to the gems. (Am I mixing my metaphors?). Apparently, Thompson was - as usual - short on material and filled in by reprinting old material; unfortunately, Thompson repeated the same material in multiple books. (For instance, "Midnight on the Coast Highway" is here and in at least two other books).

Perhaps the most-disappointing aspect of doomed is Thompson's coverage of his "lifestyle bust" in 1990 when he was hit with eight felony charges after a hot-tub party at his home went very wrong. (Thompson was exonerated). Songs concludes with HST's coverage of the case, but the section relies - not on HST's writing - but on notes from attorneys, newspaper stories, etc. I can understand why Thompson spent his time fighting the charges, but the reader wants of his take on the case.

Songs of the Doomed is a qualified success. Thompson would have his renaissance in the 1990s and 2000s, though, he never matched the groundbreaking Hell's Angels (1966), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail (1973). Still, Songs of the Doomed is well worth a look for Thompson's loyal followers. Read more ›