On February 20th we lost one of the greats. RIP Hunter Thompson. You are missed.

Submitted by nits3w t3_1175v5l in books

Hunter Thompson was (is) by far my favorite author. I still remember sitting in my living room back in 2005, staring in disbelief at the news that he had passed.

I would love to see what he would have written about the past several years... The Snowden leaks, the Trump administration, the pandemic... I imagine it would have been very pointed.

I don't think we will ever get another writer like Thompson, but I am grateful for the works he shared with us.

So, lift a glass of Wild Turkey, and salute the king of gonzo journalism.

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Comments

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HumOfEvil t1_j9afg5m wrote

His name looks wrong without the "S" just doesn't roll off the tongue right.

He really was one of a kind though, his escapades with the Hells Angels was nuts.

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mooimafish33 t1_j9h6dcx wrote

Right, it's like seeing "John Tolkien" or "Clive Lewis"

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TTzara999 t1_j9a79ui wrote

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.”

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Grimgarcon t1_j9aachg wrote

What kind of lame, half-mad bullshit are you trying to sneak over on us? When Rolling Stone asks for “a thinkpiece”, goddamnit, we want a fucking Thinkpiece… and don’t try to weasel out with any of your limey bullshit about a “50,000 word novella about the condition humaine, etc…”

A morsel of Hunter Thompson's legendary rejection letter to, uh, Anthony Burgess...

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MFAWG t1_j9cj8rt wrote

‘Fear And Loathing on The Campaign Trail’ should be required reading in America.

At the end of the day it’s about how the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections destroyed America as we knew it and created what we’ve ended up with.

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danjet500 t1_j9axla9 wrote

"A savage journey to the heart of the American Dream."

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Chak-Ek t1_j9ca3uq wrote

It's not unusual on a road trip for someone from my core group to pipe up

"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

And none of us dares refuse the offer of a beer, because we all know that it will be followed by an offer of "perhaps some ether".

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well_uh_yeah t1_j9a82u1 wrote

He lived such a wildly different life from the one that I've lived or would ever choose to live, that I haven't ever really been able to enjoy his writing, unfortunately.

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nits3w OP t1_j9af4sc wrote

Interesting viewpoint. I always felt I was drawn to his writing because it was so wildly different from my life experience.

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HamiltonBlack t1_j9b154k wrote

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is my favorite book. I recently dove into his other works again and I hate to admit, some of it doesn’t hold up and some of it is simply not good. But he was one of a kind and his moments of brilliance are unmatched.

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nits3w OP t1_j9b9cqe wrote

I've enjoyed most of it, but there are some that are definitely better than others.

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flossistheboss t1_ja5jjbl wrote

Which of his works would you say aren't as good? I'm interested in reading more of his stuff and I'm wondering which ones I should maybe leave until later on.

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thegooddoktorjones t1_j9c6me3 wrote

I was just rewatching Venture Brothers, and thinking it interesting that such a colorful personality was now enshrined in so many different cartoon characters, including his own writings where he became an artificial version of himself.

Seeing early footage of him dealing with his increased popularity and people not only assuming Raoul Duke was him, but expecting him to behave that way at all times was kind of sad. But he def leaned into it.

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Beiez t1_j9arfw0 wrote

I‘ve loved Fear And Loathing but never dove into his other works. Can anybody tell me a good starting point?

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This_person_says t1_j9ay3e1 wrote

The Curse of Lono

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nits3w OP t1_j9b94x8 wrote

Seconded. I have the oversized version with the full page Steadman drawings. Beautiful art, and wonderful writing.

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nits3w OP t1_j9as2pc wrote

Rum Diary is really good, but a bit different. If you are interested in some of the short stories, The Great Shark Hunt and Screwjack are really good.

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Aggressive_Towels t1_j9che3k wrote

Since you asked for a starting point I'll say Rum Diary. Followed by Curse of Lono. After that you could really go anywhere. Hell's Angels, Great Shark Hunt, Campaign Trail... There's nothing that isn't worth the time.

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ragazza68 t1_j9dqn2i wrote

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved - a long article/essay and absolutely inspired

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davewashere t1_j9f6avt wrote

His early stuff was his best work, so definitely check out Hell's Angels and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. A collection of his letters was published as The Proud Highway and Fear and Loathing in America, and I'd consider them essential reading.

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carbondrewtonium t1_j9aze9a wrote

I was playing an improv game named Five Things the other day and someone asked what are five things I want to happen to me after I die. The number one thing that came to mind was having someone blow me out of a cannon.

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Trout-Population t1_j9bpxxj wrote

He's definitely one of my favorites as well. The audiobooks narrated by Scott Sowers are excellent.

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Puzzleheaded_Bit9469 t1_j9enkmi wrote

We were lucky to have him as long as we did. He suffered much in his final years and sadly his writing did as well.

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davewashere t1_j9f6mj8 wrote

It's crazy to think that it's been so long that Reddit wasn't even around yet. I first read about the news on Fark.

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nits3w OP t1_ja8wowi wrote

Oh man... I'd almost forgotten Fark existed. I used to spend way too much time on that site.

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