Customer Reviews

When the Going Gets Weird: The Twisted Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson : A Very Unauthorized Biography

5 star:		(2)
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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't know.. I have some ambivalent feelings about Mr. Whitmer's book on Hunter S. Thompson. On one hand I really like reading about Hunter Thompson and suppose that I myself am a kind of weird groupie when it comes to reading about him and a few other writers (I bought this one at a garage sale for 50 cents). On the other hand I really dislike reading gossipy books where the author has only a little understanding of his subject or his work and is mainly just trying to cash in on the artist's celebrity, telling second hand stories that might or might not be true. I myself am guilty of reading these little tabloid-like pieces and almost always feel dirty afterward. Especially if the subject is worthy of some respect in his artistic life and HST certainly is. Artists should be given the space they need to work through their inner struggles while sorting it all out. This requires huge amounts of slack for an artist like Thompson. But then after they die all the lies and sentimental twisted memories can come flooding out and it's all so much less embarrassing for them and for us. I do understand why Mr. Whitmer would want to do a book on HST. And his might be better than the other bios as the above reviewers say. But make no mistake, Peter Whitmer did this one to make some easy money and Hunter Thompson's name sells better a lot better than his own.

It's a shame this book is out of print. As one of three Hunter Thompson biographies published in the spring of 1993, Whitmer's was the only one that wasn't an utter embarrassment to its author or publisher. He actually did some concerted, smart research, thought about his subject, did more reporting and obviously wrote more than a single draft of the book. The fact that Whitmer has a brain and knows how to use it didn't hurt. And unlike Perry & Carroll, Whitmer can write. In addition to having done more and better research than his rivals, his prose is clean, fluid and graceful. Both stylistically and factually, this is the only Thompson biography worth reading.

This is the most fact-filled accurate and complete biography of Hunter S Thompson thus far. Also, it contains an interesting psychological profile of Hunter S. Thompson because the author is a Ph.D. psychologist.

if you really want a book about hunter thompson, read "Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson" by Jann Werner and Corey Seymour. a bunch of the dates and names of people in this book are wrong. it's greatly detailed, very candid about many of thompson's assignments and the events, etc., but the number of things i've found factually wrong in this book makes me wonder whether all that detail is even correct. at least in gonzo, the facts are from the people who knew thompson best and were there to see it all happen.

HST is my absolute favorite author but this is a so so bio. I knew about most of these events HST had described and even HST tried to block it. Interesting, but not mind blowing.

I read Thompson's collected letter's, but they are no substitute for this very well-done biography. The author is not doing literary criticism, it is true- he is doing biography. Unlike most interviews/biographies about this wonderfully unique character, he doesn't drool all over the subject. Thompson did some great work, and the persona he crafted was spectacular. This book, along with the collections of letters, makes clear what a tragedy is the result of attempting to stay on the edge for all of these years. His recent work is all recycling and incoherent parodies of himself.

HST is a wasted hull of a man and a mind. His alter ego became himself and the result was a tremendous waste of talent and creativity. The quality of HTS's correspondence in The Proud Highway makes this all the more clear. I am grateful for what he gave- it's just a shame he couldn't keep a handle on it.

Extensive and enlightening information on Thompson's early past and influences, but overall lacks insight on the main body of his work and life. Nonetheless a compeling book and very hard to put down. Whitmer's ultimate conclusion is that Thompson is a tragic figure, unworthy of adoration. After reading this book, you may agree.

It's great background for anyone just becoming interested in Thompson's life and work.