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I firmly believe the same thing of Leary - these men were created by the Sixties and really had no choice about the role they had to play. After World War II the world changed, but Hemingway could not, and Hemingway eventually ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Thompson, like Hemingway, ended his life with a gun.It's difficult, however, to criticize HST cognizant of how much of our contemporary culture was created or made possible by him. It's tough to imagine how they, as creative individuals, could have been anything but mirrors of the Zeitgeist. He would have been just a failed Air Force sports writer. But as the world changed, HST was, like Hemingway, trapped by that declining Zeitgeist. An outrageous, self-indulgent and wild creature of the Sixties, this book captures the height of his creative power and instinct in symbiosis with the memetic explosion of the Sixties.
The further the Sixties slid into history, the less relevant Thompson became because, like Hemingway, he was unwilling to adapt. Thompson, like Hemingway, lived the last years of his life in a remote cabin with the few people he still understood. HST, in his essay (included in this book) "What Lured Hemingway to Ketchum.", talks about how Hemingway reflected the Zeitgeist of his time, and as that era faded, Hemingway faded as well. It's in vogue among psychedelic people to call Leary, Nixon's "Public Enemy Number One", the worst thing that happened to the psychedelic experiment of the 20th century. Perhaps, but these men, Thompson and Leary, created our world. If Thompson had not been a crazy, weird, irresponsible, self-indulgent rogue, what would he have been. Thompson never tried to understand the strange new world that grew around him as the century ended. Hunter S.
I was struck, in reading that essay, by how much his observations could have been about Thompson himself. They had to play the clowns, because the era was a circus.At least Leary continued to engage the fin de siecle world and strove to stay relevant, for example by being an early pioneer in the personal computer revolution. A parallel can be seen in Hunter S. Thompson's contemporary Timothy Leary. Thompson narcissistically and lazily rode the wave only until it ebbed, then gave up. To our continuing loss, he took the easy way out.
"The Great Shark Hunt," despite its banal title and cover image, is the best primer on Hunter Thompson you're going to get.There is his first work of "gonzo journalism" about the Kentucky Derby, exerpts from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" as well as "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail." But even if you have bought these works separately, this book has a lot of the small articles that appeared in Rolling Stone and other magazines that you probably haven't seen.I'd highly recommend this compilation over any other Thompson book.
Ok everyone thinks of hunter as the greatest modern writer.This book is more of a tolit read, quick stories you could thumb through alright but you should induldge yourself in a novel.Do this to get the grasp of his writing and his mind a good introduction to hunters work.ALSO I ALWAYS AM LOOKING FOR POLO IS MY LIFE ANYONE KNOW ITS WHERE ABOUTS ONLINE TELL ME.
His strong personality is what made him the center of the story, and his sharp incite and wit were merely the icing on top.Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Muhammad Ali. and that possibly is the testament why Hunter S.
Featuring cuts from now seminal classics such as "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas", "Hell's Angels", and "Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72" supplemented with a large collection of articles that have over the years become journalistic staples within the Hunter S. "The Great Shark Hunt" serves as a fantastic first volume that serves as possibly the ultimate re-cap of arguably his most influential period.
Thompson has always managed to immerse himself in the story in ways still unmatched.His writings and subsequent volumes of letters have alluded to a man that was as intriguing as he was unnerving. Thompson fan collective and outside observers a like.
Whether his first introduction with Ralph Steadman ("The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent And Depraved") or the death of Ruben Salazar ("Strange Rumblings In Atzlan"), Hunter S. Thompson is the "founder" and only real contender in the arena of "Gonzo Journalism".
it is all here.
He interacts with the world like no other. Phenomenal, one of Thompson's greats. Great stuff with his meeting of Ralph Steadman. You get a feeling that he is right there again being as chaotic and eccentric as he is expected to be. By far some of his great writing.
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