This book is a compilation of articles penned by Hunter S Thompson during the 1980s.

The anecdotal accounts within are extremely exciting and full of whimsy. I relished reading his retellings of random and peculiar news stories. For instance, there is the article about the tug boat that was laden with tons of rubbish and waste, panicking and circling around the Gulf of Mexico. He truly is a natural storyteller.

The more politically inclined articles, however, were less enjoyable for me. Since I am not overly familiar with US politics in the 1980s, I can only assume that reading them at that time would have been great fun.

Despite the edgy language and themes present in the book, I might still recommend it to my Grandma. I think she would appreciate the unique perspective and the engaging stories that Thompson has to offer.

Overall, this book is a fascinating read that offers a glimpse into the mind of a talented and eccentric writer.

Hunter S. Thompson, the Wizard of Words, offers a truly mesmerizing tap into American politics in the 80s. His works are like windows through which we can glimpse the complex and often chaotic political landscape of that era.

Thompson's unique writing style and fearless approach to journalism make his pieces a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the inner workings of American politics.

His ability to capture the essence of a moment and the personalities involved is simply remarkable.

I find myself completely enthralled by his words and eager to read every sentence that this genius has ever written.

Each page is filled with vivid descriptions, sharp insights, and a healthy dose of Thompson's trademark irreverence.

It's as if he is leading us on a wild ride through the political underbelly of America, and we can't help but be captivated by the journey.

This particular work had its闪光点, but it is quite evident that Thompson was beyond his prime during this stage of his career.

The name Richard Nixon would时不时地 surface. I have a hunch that he was actually longing for Tricky Dick and hoping for his return.

Nevertheless, Hunter S Thompson was still alive and active in the 80s, so this book does possess some entertainment value.

Although Thompson's best days might have been behind him, his unique writing style and perspective still managed to capture the attention of readers.

The mention of Nixon added an interesting layer to the narrative, perhaps hinting at Thompson's political leanings or his fascination with the controversial figure.

Overall, while the book may not be a masterpiece, it does offer a glimpse into the mind of a talented and idiosyncratic writer during a particular period of his life.

The best thing about this book for me, aside from reading HST for the first time, was its coverage of the 80's.

The 80's was a period when I was aware of the events happening around me, yet had limited understanding of how the world truly functioned. I vividly remember Ollie North during the Iran Contra hearings on TV.

Many of my relatives regarded him as a hero, while most of my friends thought he was a criminal. I myself was uncertain. In fact, he is a criminal.

It is astonishingly sad to read how Thompson expected the Iran Contra affair to be treated as the major criminal enterprise it was - a criminal enterprise perpetrated by the highest powers in Washington.

He anticipated that it would lead to the disgrace of the Reagan administration and the end of George H.W. Bush's political career, if not a prison sentence.

Ironically, it ended up being just a mere historical footnote in the Reagan era.

In the hindsight of 2010, it is frightening to see how it paved the way for greater crimes of state in the first decade of the 21st century.

As Hunter pointed out, Watergate was child's play compared to the treachery of Iran Contra.

And Iran Contra would then be overshadowed by the mountain of body bags resulting from the far more criminal George W. Bush administration.

Hunter S. Thompson's "Generation of Swine" offers a scathing look at the political and cultural landscape of the late 1980s.

It's a good thing he didn't live to witness the era of President Donald J. Trump. In the book, the corruption and stupidity of the Reagan administration nearly drove him to madness. The current age of blatant dumbness and ethical bankruptcy would likely have killed him even faster than that bullet.

The collection of his columns as the "cultural critic" for the San Francisco Examiner covers a wide range of topics, from the Iran/Contra affair to the rise of satellite TV and the changing face of pornography. But it's mostly focused on the 1987-1988 presidential race. Hunter repeatedly slams George H. W. Bush, only to see him become the Republican front-runner and later the president.

He despises Reagan and Bush and everything they stand for, but he also heaps shame on the Democratic Party, which he views as spineless and incompetent. In this regard, the book serves as a time capsule of the political scene in 1987 and a barometer of how much things have changed.

While the political talk can get tiresome at times, especially with Thompson's fixation on the Vegas odds of various front-runners, the book's most interesting moments come from his eccentric digressions. These include his time as the owner of a salvage company in Florida, stories of a motorcycle race gone wrong, an exploding Jeep, and tales of mercenaries and gun freaks.

However, as always with Hunter, we're not meant to take everything at face value. A disturbing story about him capturing and killing a fox that was attacking his peacocks is later clarified as a political allegory. Maybe.

Anyway, this was a good book that offers a unique perspective on a bygone era.

Now, let's take a step back in time and look at how things were more than 30 years ago. It's a journey to relive the later years of the Reagan Presidency and other significant events that you might have forgotten about. Through the Doctor's jaundiced view, we can gain a unique perspective on those times.

The Reagan era was a time of great change and transformation in the United States. His policies had a profound impact on the economy, foreign relations, and domestic affairs. We'll explore the key events and decisions that shaped that period and understand their significance in the larger context of history.

But it's not just about the Reagan Presidency. There were other events of note that took place during that time, events that may have been overshadowed or forgotten. We'll shine a light on those forgotten moments and see how they contributed to the fabric of society.

Join us as we embark on this journey through time and discover the past through the Doctor's jaundiced view.

Parts of it are clearly very dated.

There are some elements that are misogynistic, which is really unacceptable in today's society. Moreover, there are essays that depict animal cruelty as fun, which is not only cruel but also shows a lack of respect for life.

Interestingly, there are also essays that basically predicted the outcome of the 2016 election back in the mid-90s. This shows that some of the insights and analysis in this work have a certain degree of prescience.

However, it's also likely to leave you with a bitter taste about Reagan and Bush if you didn't already have one. The author's portrayal and evaluation of these two presidents may not be in line with everyone's views, and it may cause some people to have a negative impression of them.

Overall, this work is a complex and controversial one, with both its strengths and weaknesses.

Huge brains, small necks, weak muscles and fat wallets - these are the dominant physical characteristics of the '80's...the Generation of Swine.

I read this over a period of several months while delving into the library books that kept coming my way. Tonight, as I was near the end, I decided to push forward and read the last few essays. The book kicks off with Gary Hart's presidential run and the election of George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988. Thompson had high hopes for Hart until his spectacular downfall. (I just read an article suggesting that Hart might have been set up when he allowed that very pretty blonde to sit on his lap, but I doubt we'll ever know for sure. Along the way, he discusses Biden's plagiarism and blames Pat Buchanan. I had forgotten the details of the controversy, but apparently, he plagiarized in a paper at Syracuse Law School. Syracuse never caught it. Anyway, a lot of plagiarism often stems from forgetting to add footnotes and a reference at the end. I think if you're writing a book or a long paper, it could be an easy thing to forget, especially when you're tired and bleary-eyed. Also, this was before the era of word processing. But I digress.... He also apparently used some of Bobby Kennedy's words in his speeches without referencing Kennedy. I guess it never occurs to anyone that a person can have that stuff in their brain for so long that they forget where it came from. Anyway, he apparently apologized extensively, and that ended his presidential aspirations. (Now he's apparently going to run again. Hey, if he can defeat Trump, I'm all for it.)

Thompson seems to have invented "Gonzo Journalism", which, according to Wikipedia, is "a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style. It is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist, and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. It has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.

Gonzo journalism involves an approach to accuracy that focuses on reporting personal experiences and emotions, in contrast to traditional journalism, which favors a detached style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. Gonzo journalism disregards the strictly-edited product favored by newspaper media and strives for a more personal approach; the personality of a piece is as important as the event or actual subject of the piece. The use of sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and profanity is common.

Thompson, who was among the forefathers of the new journalism movement, said in the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, "If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism."

Hunter was never one to hide his emotions. His writing is really profane, funny, and even true sometimes. It's his opinion, but it IS based on accuracy. Certainly, his reading of the Reagan administration and the various administration officials is accurate as I remember them. (No, I do NOT venerate Reagan as some great leader even if he did tell Gorbachev to take down the Berlin Wall. Ultimately, the Berliners did it themselves.)

Furthermore, if he had lived, his head would have spun over the Trump administration. Talk about a generation of swine. They make the Reagan administration look absolutely angelic even with Oliver North and his shenanigans.

Anyway, don't read this if you like Republicans. Or Democrats. Thompson despised them all.

A long overdue re-read that was just as entertaining as the first time around, I started Generation of Swine on my birthday as a little treat to myself.

The time between then and now has been heavily slanted towards work. However, the format of the book - articles written for the San Francisco Examiner between '86 and '88 - made it the perfect reading material to fit into my often very short lunch breaks.

Generation of Swine is a brilliant time capsule. It brings back many of the things that were on our (but especially American) minds in the late '80s: AIDS, the War on Drugs, Ghaddafi, acid rain, and the Iran/Contra affair, as well as the Presidential campaign for '88. It shows that while we may have pretty short memories, the world has always been an insanely corrupt and often frightening place. The only thing that's really changed are the names of the players and how it's documented.

For me, Hunter S. Thompson is a huge loss from amongst the best of those documentarians. He's someone who's miles better than most even when he's not at his peak.

He's never better than when he's at his most vitriolic. The Iran/Contra scandal and the Presidential campaign gave him plenty of material, especially when it came to George Bush Snr.

Based on this little jaunt through the decade of "Huge brains, small necks, weak muscles and fat wallets...", I think it might be high time for a re-read of all his other books too.

**Also posted at Randomly Reading and Ranting**

I don't even know how to describe this book, but I will try.

Basically, this is a collection of essays and columns that HST wrote from 1984 to 1988, concentrating mainly on political and societal issues in the US. The style, the craziness, the ridiculous and very unique way of writing is the bait that drags you across the pages of this book.

I am sure I would like it more if I were American and understood the internal issues of the country better. However, I still enjoyed most of it, especially the style of writing.

This book made me wish that contemporary journalism was at least half as good as HTS was. It also sort of encouraged me to read more columnists and maybe start my own column. So, if one day you'll see my name under some weird column article, you have to blame Hunter S. Thompson for that :).

The unique perspective and writing style of HST in this book truly make it a captivating read. It offers a different take on the political and social landscape of the US during that time period. The essays and columns are filled with his passionate opinions and vivid descriptions, which draw the reader in and keep them engaged from start to finish.

Even if you're not an American or don't have in-depth knowledge of the country's issues, you can still appreciate the art of writing and the ideas presented in this book. It serves as an inspiration for those interested in journalism or simply in expressing their own views in a unique and engaging way.

In conclusion, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking literature and wants to experience the unique writing style of Hunter S. Thompson. It has the power to inspire and influence, and it will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the art of journalism.

Hunter S. Thompson (HST) was, without a doubt, the originator of “Gonzo” journalism. This concept essentially involved making the journalist an essential part of their own story. In HST’s case, this included excessive drinking and drug use, and a general sense of a life constantly on the brink, even though he was primarily and ostensibly a serious political reporter.

This book is a compilation of approximately one hundred of HST’s thousand-word pieces from his weekly San Francisco Examiner column, covering the years 1986 - 1988. At times, these can seem like darkly comic rants from a parallel universe, and clearly much of it is (hopefully!) pure fiction. However, enough of it is based on verifiable facts to give one frequent cause for thought.

What is interesting to note almost 40 years later is how few of the politicians mentioned are still even remotely remembered, except for those who became POTUS. Here, we see Joe Biden’s 1988 campaign come to a grinding halt. The same goes for events as well. The appalling Oliver North Iran/Contra scandal, now just a footnote in US history, comes terrifyingly to life when reviewed week by week in HST’s manic dispatches.

Like most compilations, this book can be difficult to read in large sections, and it is obviously dated. However, it is still a must-read for those who are addicted to the sinister machinations of US power politics, even through the “Gonzo” lens. It is both sad and sobering to see how little has actually changed in these past decades.

This was HST writing a weekly column in an SF newspaper in the mid to late '80s.

It was a period that encompassed the 1988 presidential election. Many of the events and issues during this time will be familiar to anyone who has read Richard Ben Cramer's legendary and ginormous "What It Takes".

Surprisingly, it was a more amusing election than one might think. It's truly a pity that there wasn't a proper "Game Change"-style tabloid account of it written.

These columns are wackier than what one would usually read in a daily newspaper. However, rarely are they laugh out loud funny.

I imagine that little of the subject matter would interest someone who isn't a hardcore political junkie.

The columns offer a unique perspective on the political landscape of that era, but they may not have the broad appeal that a more mainstream account might have had.

Nevertheless, for those with a deep interest in politics and the history of that time, they can provide valuable insights and entertainment.