Another collection of letters from the typewriter of Mr. Gonzo Journalism himself.

As always, endlessly crude, brutal, savage, and entertaining.

Good fun if your head is in the right place and you’re not too easily offended.

If you're into either visiting or re-visiting those days, he's the guide to take.

Best writer there has ever been.

Outrageously funny. Hunter is a hip genius with an outrageous sense of humor. It took 32 hours to listen to the audio version.

My favorite of the collections of letters. HST at his best, hungry for a story at all times. It was an amazing read and it really brings you into his inner sanctum. HST was more than just a legend, he was a hopeless addict to writing. His correspondence rings with similar magic to his books.

This 2nd volume of collected letters covers probably the most fertile period of HST's professional life to date, that gave rise to his best known works: Fear and loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and loathing on the campaign trail. A common thread running throughout is Thompson's plans to write a book on the death of the american dream, a project he has yet to fully realise, but that has been a recurrent theme in his work. you also get a good insight into how F&L in Las Vegas was written (basically it's two 'assignments' stuck together) and how Thompson worked during that time.
There is also a whole series of letters covering his failed run for the office of Sheriff, which makes for interesting reading.
However, most importantly of all, what you get here is the picture of a man who, despite his cartoonish public persona, is actually a thoroughly decent person, who,though harsh with his enemies,is gentle and generous with his friends and family.

This collection of letters starts in 1968 HST is living in Woody Creek, The Rum Diary has been written and Hells Angels has been published. Not only does it give an insight into who HST really was but it also lets you see his writing process and where his ideas came from. He spent the first three years of this book struggling to write a book called The Joint Chiefs about the death of the American dream and the letters to Jim Silberman from Random House document his frustration and inability to construct a coherent book. Certain parts of this collection are repetitive for example a policeman hit him with a billy club during the 68 Democratic convention in Chicago and this story was told to pretty much everyone he know. And the constant letters to Jann Wenner from Rolling Stone arguing over expenses are also slightly repetitive too. The correspondences to and from Oscar Zeta Acosta are definitely worth getting this book for and the letters written in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon are very interesting. There is also this recurring theme about his annoyance with being constantly asked to write short passages to go on the cover of other people's books and how futile this process is. It's a good book to have in the bathroom and the short letter format works well for toilet reading.

I didn't look at it close enough when purchasing it. Didn't find out until I got it home that is was just correspondence between HST and various folks. He is not as good a correspondent as he is a writer.

Great stuff. Letter to Tom Wolfe is hilarious--

"The hammer of justice looms, and your filthy white suit will become a flaming shroud!''

Another HST classic!

Not too impressed. Thompson wasn't a "wild a crazy guy" in his letters. Mostly he just writes about politics and $$. He's constantly badgering Rolling Stone's Editor/Publisher to pay Thompson what Rolling Stones owes him, or he's threatening to sue someone for libel. Lots of serious political letters to about Jimmy Carter, Gary Hart, etc. Many of the letters are Rambling, with a capital "R" and were no doubt written under the influence. For Thompson fans only.

Once I had read the novels, I wanted more HST. His news articles are worth the read. Many of these enjoy from HST's anger and irony.