i read this book in high school. often, and over and over. and i thought, "this is what i want to be when i grow up." not the myth, or the "lookit me!" or the intermittent macho. but, oh, the writing. the writing. ( )

Great first line:

“Well... yes, and here we go again.”

Indeed! Lots of good reads in this collection, both serious and Gonzo, though I am a bigger Gonzo fan than serious fan. Hell, the book starts with two scathing letters of reprimand from his Air Force days! And LOTS of different subjects covered within! Quite a bit about Nixon - Hunter's hatred of him, a little bit more about the '72 election, and a lot about Watergate and Tricky Dick's resignation. We get Hunter's first crazed meeting with Ralph Steadman and a trip to the Kentucky Derby! Jean-Claude Killy, Muhammad Ali, and the Super Bowl!
Great stuff about the Brown Buffalo in "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan" and "The Banshee Screams For Buffalo Meat"! Quite a bit from South America. Jimmy Carter, Hemingway in Idaho, and Marlon Brando!
A note on the scene in S.F. from "Hashbury" - a term I've never scene before! Politics in/near Woody Creek! And excerpts from "Hells Angels" and "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" including my favorite piece from the later - the piece about the 60's movement coming to an end:

"…We were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . . So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

My favorite piece of new-for-me in here came from the book's title, "The Great Shark Hunt"! Very Gonzo and Thompson and insane! Sport fishing in Mexico probably was never the same after that excursion! Just horribly wonderful! I think the bottom of the book's cover says it all:

"Strange Tales from a Strange Time, America's Quintessential Outlaw Journalist"

Yeah. That's what I was trying to say. Balls. ( )

Filled with stories about politics and sports, I really should not have liked this book. (I am not a fan of either sports or politics.) Somehow it was still interesting to me, though. Maybe it's the stream of consciousness style of writing or the absurd drug induced mania often described. Anyway, I will likely seek out the next couple if books in the series. ( )

Probably the book (collection of essays) that made me want to write. ( )

Great collection of articles from the foremost journalist of the late 20th century. We need a Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail 2016 so badly, and he's not here to write it. What a shame. ( )