Book Review 5 of 52: Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson

I've liked Hunter S. Thompson since high school when I picked up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from my sister and then saw the movie. I knew very little about Hunter at the time except that he wrote this really crazy book that turned into a really crazy movie. Then a few years ago someone let me borrow their copy of Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail and I started noticing that these crazy books were written by quite the crazy person.

Then I saw the documentary, Gonzo, that came out last year. I had always heard bits and pieces about Hunter. I read a piece after he died about one of the assistants that he had and the hell that she said she had gone through working under him. Then I read a few other pieces by people who loved to be around him. I just couldn't figure out one way or another how to feel about him. Was he a brash alcoholic/drug addict who burned every bridge he came across and ruined his writing career at his peak, or was he a lovable alcoholic/drug addicted prankster whose genius was incredibly misunderstood by those who weren't closest to him?

After reading this book I've learned a few truths about Hunter. He was always drunk, he was always high on something, and he could be more drunk and more high than anyone else and still perform as normal as Hunter could ever be. He didn't just drink people under the table, he started drinking and never stopped. For all intents and purposes the man was a machine. Ingesting every substance that came across him and pumping out some of the most original literature of the last half century.

The book is an oral history, meaning it's just the people who knew him best talking about him. The dialgoue serves as the segues, the description, the plot. Nothing but talk, talk, talk. Now some people talk better than others. His ex-wife, Sandy Thompson, being the real lead of the book as she was the one by his side during his creative apex and even when things were just getting started. She gives you a real idea that Hunter was a classic southern gentleman at heart and could get anyone under his spell, male or female.

Some people don't get enough talk time. It would have been nice to see what Tom Wolfe had to think about Hunter creatively and not just silly anecdotes about whenever they crossed paths. Sonny Barger, head of the Hell's Angels, still obviously holds a grudge against Hunter and spent most of the time trash talking which got a little old. Then there's Jann Wenner, his editor at Rolling Stone for 35 years. You can tell Jann gets a little high and mighty with the whole "I gave Hunter his big break" and just a lot of gloating at being around Hunter. Johnny Depp also comes across as little more than a fanboy who, aside from some interesting stories about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, has little more to add to the story.

Also, what I felt was a bit of a critical mistep is the lack of Ralph Steadman in the book. Ralph was his go-to guy, the only guy who ever got to successfully collaborate with Hunter. They went on stories together, probably even became stories most of the time and he's given just enough talk time to explain what's already been explained.

It's still a fantastic book, and coming in at 467 pages it covers much more than you would expect with someone like Hunter. Think of it as a companion piece to the documentary and it works perfect. The documentary gives more time to Ralph and covers some things more than the book does. Also the book covers a lot more things than the movie, like covering more of the McGovern campaign and his campaign for sheriff.

Of course when it comes to someone like Hunter is it even possible to know the whole story? Also how much do I want to seperate man from myth? Short of reading all of Hunter's work this is the best way to get an insight in to who he really was, from the women he loved and lost, to the friends he loved and lost, to his son Juan, celebrity friends like Jack Nicholson and Margot Kidder, there are enough people to give a pretty good insight into what kind of a person he really was.

I'll leave you with a quote from the man himself: "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me"