Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson by Corey Seymour, Jann S. Wenner
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Book Reviews of Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson
Book Review: The Reality of Hunter S. Thompson for all to read
Summary: 5 Stars
Hunter Thompson (HST) was born and raised hell in Louisville, Kentucky. His incorrigible ways led him to the military via a criminal judge's orders. Many of his childhood and college friends made a living by the written word and, after fulfilling his enlistment agreement, Thompson joined them. Only, his way was different.
It seems that Thompson looked at the world through a kaleidoscope, stopping occasionally to pull his eye away and see a reality he didn't know how to change. The need for change he put into words in a way only he knew. Drugs were a part of his life from an early age-and whether he did them because life was crazy, or he made life crazy by taking them-is open to opinion. Either way, drug use influenced, and impeded, his writing.
Friends, editors, movie stars, a small-town sheriff, wives, a son, assistants and cocktail waitresses all had stories to tell. Some make you thankful you didn't have to deal with the troubled and troublesome man. Others illuminate his intelligence and sense of humor. The writer, who could be both fearless and fearsome, was vocal when greed and politics stood in the way of world order as he saw it.
The list of celebrities he encountered and befriended is long and varied: Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, Jimmy Buffet, Sean Penn, Ed Bradley, and George McGovern, just to name a few, and all have stories of HST. While the drugs may have fueled his stream-of-consciousness writing, it also interfered with his relationships. A fair-minded man at heart, Thompson could be abusive and a serious irritation when his mood of the hour didn't match the task of the day.
Contributors to the book have many impressions of the writer. So many opinions that it is evident Thompson was a complex man who influenced, affected and stimulated all who encountered him. Gonzo, The Life of Hunter S. Thompson reads like a published wake, recorded so no one forgets the bigger-than-life, flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants outrageous man. The story is definitely worth the price of the ticket.
Armchair Interviews agrees.
Book Review: "I slept with all my assistants..."
Summary: 5 Stars
For anybody who's read through H.S.T's entire library, for anybody looking for another part of the story, for anybody looking to add to their accumulated knowledge of Dr Gonzo...this book is for you...It's a great, extremely accessible book.
The only people that should stay away from this title are those that are so uptight & tightly wound, that are so concerned with preserving a myth rather than telling a story, that would rather read (or release or publish or allow) the same monotonous versions of the same rehashed stories time & time & time again...
(...monotonous is probably an exaggeration, especially in HST's case...)
I don't understand all this great decrying of this book based on the fact that HST's wife "disapproved".
Who cares?
There's many stories here from the people that knew Hunter Thompson best, & they each have the right to see & tell things as individually as the man they're busy describing....
When they each & all come out & say they were conned & baited & paid off, I'll change my humble opinion.....
Until then, I'll continue reading & laughing & cursing & waiting for releases of the next couple Hunter books to be allowed...or at the very least, morally approved of....
Book Review: Wenner's Patience Astounding
Summary: 5 Stars
Hunter Thompson writes to Jann S. Wenner (Rolling Stone editor in chief and mentor), "...just how hot can you stand it, brother, before your love will crack?" I asked myself the same thing about Wenner as I was sucked into this spellbinding and powerfully edited first person(s) account of the life of HST. I was amazed at the endurance and patience of JSW, and was thankful that that the hand-held nurturing, in part, resulted in the brilliant literary output of Thompson. Having been a 150 countries as a private detective and video producer, I thought I had a pretty exciting life. But my knees were shaking reading about the insane adventures of HST and his inner circle. Highly recommended.Book Review: Scarf it - Quick!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't let these negative reviews, apparently written by candy-assed cretins with rose-colored contacts screwed into their eyeballs, keep you from inhaling this most excellent volume.
Wenner et. al. are in no way "bashing" Hunter, simply telling it straight - TAANSTAAFL, and Hunter was a hellacious buffet.
Also made me feel much better about his death - I was afraid he had, if you'll pardon the expression,"jumped the gun", but apparently not so much.
Selah.
Book Review: Truth is truth
Summary: 5 Stars
I finished the book and am only doing a review in response to all the criticism of Wenner. It seems to me the book is fair. Guess what--Thompson's writing skills did decline and he did suffer the consequences of his excesses, emotional, physical, and pharmaceutical. Thompson himself seems to have agreed. Lay off Wenner he deserves credit for an unblinking and insightful book.
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