Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson | Date: 28 April 2011, 05:43
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Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson
By Anita Thompson, Christopher Hitchens
* Publisher: Da Capo Press
* Number Of Pages: 432
* Publication Date: 2009-07-06
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0306816512
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780306816512
Product Description:
Bristling with inspired observations and wild anecdotes, this first collection offers a unique insight into the voice and mind of the inimitable Hunter S. Thompson, as recorded in the pages of Playboy, The Paris Review, Esquire, and elsewhere.
Fearless and unsparing, the interviews detail some of the most storied episodes of Thompson’s life: a savage beating at the hands of the Hells Angels, talking football with Nixon on the 1972 Campaign Trail (“the only time in 20 years of listening to the treacherous bastard that I knew he wasn’t lying”), and his unlikely run for sheriff of Aspen. Elsewhere, passionate tirades about journalism, culture, guns, drugs, and the law showcase Thompson’s voice at its fiercest.
Arranged chronologically, and prefaced with Anita Thompson’s moving account of her husband’s last years, the interviews present Hunter in all his fractured brilliance and provide an exceptional portrait of his times.
Summary: An Immovable Force
Rating: 4
Thompson's shining Gonzo Intellect is displayed here with humor and insight. Thompson was a seer, a visionary, an immovable force of which our culture will have to contend with for decades to come. His interviews read like his prose - evidence that what you read in print was the Good Doctor himself without pretense, without a mask. The earth's axis has shifted since his departure and we are all at a loss with his absence.
Summary: Gonzo Wisdom
Rating: 5
Always interesting and often funny, Hunter Thompson rations answers to helpless interviewer's and public forum's questions giving insight to his writing, lifestyle, philosophies and opinions from the 70's till just before his passing in 2005. A wealth of nutritional info and sages for our times included as well.
Summary: Words of Wisdom
Rating: 3
About 85 pages from the end, wishing it had been kept to about 300 pages, or at the very least, the ED. would've not repeated so any identical questions, responses, off handed remarks...programmed questions & memorized, sometimes expanded responses...typos, & why define for us in every interview who Ken Kesey was? A. Ginsberg? D. Halberstam? P. Buchanan? B. & H. Clinton? Nixon (!)? Der Fuhrer!!! Honestly? Every interview, everybody has to be introduced, title's mentioned in interviews have to be expanded below...I just don't get it. Any one w/ any idea who this man was knows who these other people are & if not, if they are interested in learning more, let them do the research. What would've taken 5 seconds to google has now slowed down the pace of this book to a handicapped crawl...
Three stars is probably one too many, but can't hold the format of the book against the power of the words.....
Actually...I think I can. This is a two star book.
If only these interviews would've been edited by those that worked w/ him throughout his life & when he was in control of what went out & what didn't, we'd all be better off for it.
In the long run, H.S.T.'s writing has & will always stood alone & uncompromised & there's no reason to think that will or should change now, no matter who gets their hands on the rights to his literature.
And I was so damned excited to get this book...
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