Tag Archives: Hunter S Thompson

BOOK: “Better Than Sex” by Hunter S. Thompson

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Better Than SexBetter Than Sex by Hunter S. Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Penguin

This is a collection of gonzo writings about American Politics in the 1990’s, and particularly about the 1992 election in which incumbent George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton. The title comes from a quote about politics that, by the book’s end, Thompson makes clear he finds utterly discredited. It is a tale of dissatisfaction with US political leadership. Thompson’s discontentment with the Bush 41 administration (going back to the Reagan years) leads him through a brief period favoring Ross Perot (a rare third-party candidate to garner a modicum of attention or support) and ultimately on to Bill Clinton, who is always presented as the lesser of two evils and about whom Thompson has nothing particularly charitable to say about beyond, Well, at least he’s not Bush. If there’s one overarching theme that can be applied to the many disparate articles and missives, herein, it’s that if this is the best we can do as a country, we are once and truly fucked. (Little did Thompson know, American politics could – indeed – become more deeply mired in the cesspool.)

A final chapter was added when Nixon died, and it consists primarily of a harsh obituary. I imagine Thompson’s impression of Trump would be similar to that of Nixon — i.e. that he is an absolutely vile and cretinous individual, but worthy of some begrudging respect for being an evil dimwit in such an upfront manner. At least one sees something like this in his comparison between Nixon and Clinton — i.e. the idea that Clinton may not be as reprehensible, overall, but there’s something unsettling in the way Clinton masks the truth.

This is a worthwhile read because it taps into America’s perennial disgruntlement with our inability – despite a large population and many resources – to find a decent human being to run the country, but it puts all that broadly felt sentiment into funny and clever words. I’d highly recommend this book for lovers of Gonzo journalism and / or (haters of) American politics.

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BOOK: “The Rum Diary” by Hunter S. Thompson

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The Rum DiaryThe Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Simon & Schuster

Thompson wrote this novel in the early 60’s but did nothing with it until the late 90’s when — apparently — he needed the money. That doesn’t sound like it would bode well for a work of literature, but it grew on me. The story follows a roughly six-month period from the time a journalist, Paul Kemp, arrives in Puerto Rico to start work at an English language newspaper in San Juan to the time he departs in the wake of the paper’s demise.

The plot is loose and late — by that I mean the most emotionally resonant events are clustered toward the book’s end. This doesn’t mean that it’s a slow-burn through the beginning and middle, per se. There is a lot of decadence and merriment going on among the protagonist and his colleagues that makes for an amusing read. Also, there is a bit of sexual tension as Kemp arrives on the island on the same plane as a pretty blonde who turns out to be the girlfriend of one of his co-workers (and thus verboten,) a girl who’s bad news, yet still the object of simmering obsession.

I found this to be a fun read and would recommend it for those curious about the hedonistic lifestyles of tropically based journalists in the 1950’s. Thompson apparently did spend some time in San Juan in 1960’s and the book is said to be loosely influenced by journalists he met and events that happened there.

Note: There is a movie. I have not seen it. Judging by the trailer, however, I would say it’s a quite loose adaptation beyond the setting and some of the characters in broad strokes.

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FIVE WISE LINES [August 2025]

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Life has become immeasurably better
since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.

Hunter s. Thompson

If asked the nature of cha no yu*
Say it’s the sound of wind blow pines
In a painting.

Sen Sotan

*”Tea ceremony” in Japanese.

All rivers flow to the ocean.
Flow and let others flow too.

Sri ramakrishna quoted by Will durant

He who makes a beast of himself
gets rid of the pain of being a man.

Samuel johnson

…The Edge… There is no honest way to explain it
because the only people who really know where it is
are the ones who have gone over.

Hunter s. Thompson, Hell’s Angels

BOOK: “Hell’s Angels” by Hunter S. Thompson

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Hell's AngelsHell’s Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Penguin

This, the first published book of Hunter S. Thompson, is said to be from his pre-Gonzo period, but it bears many of the hallmarks Thompson would later be famous for: inventive colorful language, immersion in scenes of debauchery, and insight into the American cultural landscape.

The book is part exposé of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, an organization shrouded in a reputation that was as much myth as reality and whose tightknit inner circle made obtaining an accurate picture a challenge. It would take someone as fearless / crazy as Thompson to get close enough to learn about the gang and then to tell enough truth to make at least some of the members unhappy.

The book also takes the temperature of America and reports on what ails the country. One might think this would not be worth reading, given that its insight of America is from the late sixties (it came out in ’67.) However, as I read the penultimate chapter, I was surprised to find how much of what was being said could be seen as prophetic. Thompson wrote about the Angels not as a romantic throwback to wild west outlaws (as many saw them,) but as a class of people who were ill-equipped to make a living in an ever more technologically advanced America, leaving them with little money and loads of resentment. He wrote of them as “prototypes,” and his description connects up to the latest model. It was at that point that I started seeing Thompson not only as a brilliant creative writer, but — perhaps — as a prophet.

I’d highly recommend this book for anyone curious about the Hell’s Angels or American outlaws, more generally.

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BOOKS: Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson

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Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American CenturyKingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century by Hunter S Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Kingdom of Fear is part memoir and part commentary on the state of America at the turn of the millennium. As a memoir, it explores Thompson’s bid for Sheriff, his arrest and judicial proceedings for drug and explosives charges that resulted from a “he said / she said” accusation that did not warrant charges in and of itself, a wild and wooly road-trip through Nevada, and Thompson’s position at the center of an investigation of a “threat” on the life of actor, Jack Nicholson.

As a commentary on the decline of America it discusses the battle for Grenada, a trip to Cuba, 9-11 and its aftermath, and the book revisits the ’68 Democratic Convention. It’s all written in Thompson’s drug-fueled Gonzo style, making it incredibly entertaining to read even as the hard walls between fact and fiction seem to dissolve. While the factualness might be at times in question, there is always a kind of truth that can only be received from those who’ve tossed off the shackles of societal convention and are willing to tell it as it is — even the embarrassing bits (especially the embarrassing bits.)

It’s not for those who take life and authority figures too seriously, but otherwise it’s a tremendously compelling and sometimes hilarious in its depiction of pre- and post-Y2K America.

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