This was a good start to learning about Thompson's life, but I would recommend the oral biography if you want a better history.

Paul Perry's biography of Hunter gave me basically what I wanted: a relatively intimate look at the man's life. Spanning from his youth in Louisville, KY up through to 1990, it leaves some out (Like his death), but that can hardly be blamed on Perry since it was published in '92.

It reads well, splashed with anecdotes from the 100+ friends and colleagues Perry interviewed. One important part of this book is that it never dissolves into hero worship. Perry, who knew Hunter and was able to convince him to finish an article in the 80s which was a low time for for Hunter's creative output, puts it all in. Talk of drugs and debauchery are a given, but part of what really interested me was that a large portion of the book was devoted to Hunter's inability to produce compelling work when it was needed.

But, enough dwelling on the negative! The Hunter Thompson of the late sixties and the seventies is a force to reckoned with. Without skipping a beat, he combines debauchery and politics. Never one to keep his opinions to himself and never one to not attempt a good plan (no matter how ill-advised, rash, or just downright foolish), we get an account of everything Hunter had going in the seventies.

The book covers all major events Hunter was involved in up to 1990: From Drug addled good times to political reporting and schemes. Although probably not the best book on Hunter out there, it is definitely worth a read.

Perry's profile of Thompson, completed and published more than a decade before the journalist's death in 2005, is a much more likable read than its subject-matter. I have never been much of a Thompson fan and so I read this book in hopes of understanding what all the fuss is about. Perry does an admirable job of research and of mixing wild anecdote and legendary episodes alongside more banal details of the business of being a famous writer from whom much in the way of debauchery and excess is expected. On that front Thompson seldom disappointed his fans and acolytes, but he often disappointed editors and others who waited and hoped for his creativity to flow in the form of good writing. More than anyone else Thompson ends up reminding me of Jim Morrison, another person possessed of talent but whose greater daemon was the love of altered states of consciousness and the next wild scene. Both end up being entertaining side-shows in their respective artistic genres, in my opinion, and not the ground-breaking innovators and creators their most faithful fans regard them as being. Most of all they are emblems of a powerful, seductive, and deadly myth that drugs and alcohol fuel creative consciousness, though both also stand in my view as evidence of the bankruptcy of that myth.

Fear and Loathing is one of the best literary works ever created. Few capture absurd realism with such hyperbolic candor as Hunter S., and this is a must-read for all.

its abook i could read over again and still get lost in it

Love. Lovelovelove. The audiobook and the movie are good too.

No words needed. Read it. That's all I will say.

Thompson is a favorite and this provides some very intesting insight.

A great compliment to all of HST's writings

In the personal the book is very good and also its history

Hunter S. Thompson is the father of Gonzo journalism, which blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction in news writing. However, I found this book eye opening to the actual day to day existence of such a profound icon of modern America, and in his own right a leader of generations of non-conformist individuals.

Unlike other biographies that I have read, this is amusing, at times light hearted, and basically places you as Hunter's ghost, following his every move from childhood through his drug and alcohol induced haze which characterized much of his adult life.

I've always been a fan of Hunter S. Thompson's counter-culture persona and gonzo journalism writing style, but man, the guy was a complete dick. He beat his wife, threatened homosexuals, skipped out on tabs and bills constantly, prided himself on his racist comments, was completely self-absorbed, and generally treated everyone around him like shit. I went into this book knowing all that, but it seemed like the author had both a personal vendetta against the man and a grudging admiration for Thompson's 'take all experiences to the very edge' mentality, which made for a distracting read.

This biography was originally published in the early 90's so doesn't go into the end of Thompson's life and his health problems from such excessive alcohol use, nor his suicide in 2005 (he shot himself in the head while his son was in the next room and had to find the body, so yeah...selfish to the end). Overall, I was left with a sad feeling at the waste of talent and the continued glorification of what was clearly a serious psychological dysfunction and also at the fact that I wasted a few hours reading this book when I could have just read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas again.