Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream Gonzo Papers (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

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.

Product Description

In this third and most extraordinary volume of the Gonzo Papers, Thompson recalls high and hideous moments in his 30 years in the Passing Lane. With insight and integrity, the prince of Gonzo journalism charts the long, strange trip from Kennedy to Quayle. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 315 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 033032179X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671420185
• ASIN: 0671420186
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #453,522 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 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

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	nate schwessinger (Florida) - See all my reviews

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!"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Songs of the Doomed, April 28, 2004

By	Kenny Johnson (Columbus, IN United States) - See all my reviews

The Grateful Dead coined the phrase, "what a long strange trip it's been." This has been oh so true for Dr. Thompson throughout his writing career, so his book Songs of the Damned, goes to show. A collection of writings done by Thompson giving glimpses, grim memories and bad flash backs, into an eventful and often intoxicated career.
This book stands as a time line for Thompson's literary career. With excerpts from almost all of his books, there is a little bit of something for all of his many different fans. From the Rum Diary, to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which are two of my personal favorites, to Washington politics from the 70's to the 90's. With this book you get little parts of all his books, as well as his letters to editors, and others of numerous magazines. There are a few letters to Colonel Giang of the North Vietnamese PRG, in 1975, in which Dr. Thompson wanted to meet with the Col. I would suggest this book for the die-hard Thompson fan as well as someone who has never read a book by him before, It's full of Thompson's ravings, and the Gonzo journalism that he is known for.