Gonzo: The Life Of Hunter S. Thompson (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
I finished this book two days ago and it's kind of haunting me. Well, Hunter's life is really. I feel so conflicted in my feelings about him as a person, as he seemed to have sides to his personality that highly conflicted one another. At times, I hated him and thought he was a horrible asshole. Other times, I pitied him. Sometimes, I respected him. Afterall, no one could ever accuse him of not living life on his own terms, and that, in my book, is one of the most respectable things that can be said about a person. But everyone who knows of Hunter Thompson seems to already have an opinion of him, so I'll spare you more of that and focus on the book itself.I borrowed this from a friend a let it sit. For a couple years. (I know, I'm returning it now!) Mostly because I tend to struggle with biographies. Imagine my delight and surprise when I cracked the book and discovered that it's actually an oral account by dozens of people who knew Hunter over the years. I loved that it was broken up into paragraphs/sections because it just made it easier to digest. There are A LOT of people chiming in though, and it was hard at times to keep track of who was who. The list of names in the back of the book was really helpful, and I referenced it several times.This book gave great insight into Hunter as a man, colleague, friend and lover and was fascinating. It made me feel like I actually knew him beyond the myth. Certainly not all of the stories were flattering to Hunter and I'm not sure how he would have felt about this book. He seemed to be in love with his accomplishments and want to be remembered forever, so I think maybe he would have thought the book was cool, even if he ended up pissed off at some people for it.As angry as I was about many of the ridiculous things Hunter did and painful ways he treated people, I was shocked by how my view of him softened as people recounted his later years. It was like I could feel this larger-than-life character age and frustratingly watch his sun setting. It was heartbreaking, but necessary to understand Hunter taking his own life. The book covered the span of his life and is chronological, but did leave me feeling unsure how we got from one point to another at times. For example, there were references to how his speaking engagements sold out and he became idolized, but because the book focused so much on the man, it sometimes felt unclear to me how, when and why he developed such a rabid, loyal fanbase.Without spoiling any of it, the last sentence of the book in an absolutely perfect summary of the hole left in so many people's lives once Hunter was gone. After reading the entire book, the final sentence from his best friend made me realize how much of an impact Hunter had on so many lives — for better or worse — and more than ever, how he was truly one of a kind.
I'm fond of the "oral biography" format, and I'm a fan of some of Thompson's work (and full disclosure: I used to be ga-ga over his stuff in my youth). I was a little worried that Wenner would make the book sort of self-serving and maybe it is a little, but I thought overall this was very well done.Not surprisingly, Thompson spends a lot of time being appalling to people. And I didn't realize how little productive time there was in his life. The drugs and alcohol really did limit him very quickly, it seemed to me. One thing that struck me was the sheer number of people needed for him to get any writing finished. Editors and assistants and friends constantly and literally standing by to keep him on track. His first wife Sandy seems to be the only one who is ultimately clear-eyed about his abusiveness. I suppose it's a common-enough story -- a famous person who is surrounded by people who won't stand up to him or are only interested in the hijinks or something. But the thing that stands out here to me is the huge number of people who express genuine affection for Thompson--not only for his genius, but his generosity, warmth, charm--and still go to great lengths to satisfy his every whim. It doesn't seem to occur to any of them to let him fall, that Al-Anon-approved first step to dealing with addiction. The book makes clear over and over how extraordinarily dependent he was on people for every single little mundane aspect of his life. He was, apparently, never alone. And even though it seems like many of those people loved him and worried about him, they never let him hit rock bottom. That's easy to say -- with a beloved famous person, there will probably always be somebody to do the shit work, even if your friends abandon you. And maybe there were tons of people who walked away from him, and they weren't in the book...Anyway, he had obvious gifts, but it's too bad that he never seemed to be able to put aside his legend and his addictions and move on to other things.
What do You think about Gonzo: The Life Of Hunter S. Thompson (2007)?
“But don’t forget – The Scum Also Rises.” – Hunter S. ThompsonThere are enough texts examining and illuminating the myth of that great social and literary pyrotechnic Hunter S. Thompson, but an oral biography from the people who were closest to him seemed like a worthwhile read.Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson is a complete biography through Thompson’s zany life that manages to reveal a few intriguing tidbits about the man behind the legend. Hunter’s first wife, Sandy (now Sondi), had two abortions before their son Juan was born. After Juan was born she got pregnant five times but never came to term. There’s something darkly captivating about the potential of HST having 8 kids and the fact that nature did not let it happen.A younger brother of Hunter was gay and died of AIDS. Why didn’t he write about this?Aspen Sheriff and long-time friend of Hunter, Bob Braudis, relates a story about receiving a call from Hunter when one of Hunter’s girlfriend-assistants was unconscious on the kitchen floor and unresponsive. On the way to the hospital she stopped breathing. She survived, got better, and “went back to Cincinnati or wherever she came from.” Not everyone can, nor should, do drugs like Hunter S. Thompson. But how different would things have been had HST been in the news for killing a girl…it certainly would have tainted the Myth.Beyond these few and far between, most of the book is not very enlightening for the ordained disciples of HST: he was a drug addict, he was an alcoholic, he was very smart, and he was a very good writer who absolutely failed to live up to his potential as a very, very good writer. What is also made very clear is that Thompson was certainly very charismatic but also a totally self-absorbed, unprofessional, childish, megalomaniac control freak. But people put up with a lot when you’re a brilliant genius. Which is why many of the chroniclers of HST’s life in this volume are so glib and blasé about this crazy drug fiend. First of all, they indulged and enjoyed in the same mortal pleasures, but also because they knew they were special for being lucky enough to be so close to the fire of this special man. A man who shined and burned out like no one else ever will.The most illuminating of the many, many personal stories shared throughout the book is one in which Hunter, out of character, goes out of his way to help an injured friend. When the friend asks him why he is going to all the trouble, Hunter tells him, “I can’t stand to be around pain.”Hunter S. Thompson couldn’t stand to be around pain. Explains a lot.Thanks, book!
—James
Hunter Stockton Thompson. He lived a life that many of us secretly envy and fear. A life filled with excess of alcohol, personal liberty, passion, and drugs. He danced with good and evil, morality and sin. He was brave and he was cowardly. And perhaps it was all worth it and tragic in the end. Who are we to decide as spectators? Sure his life wasn't a bed of roses but it was sheer magic touched with hell for those who knew of him as fans but also intimately. Many lives roll quietly into the dust of time, and others like him will be remembered and appreciated. He had a magic to him. He was like a shaman of the "now". He saw things on a grand scale around him but also on personal scale with those who interacted with him. He dared people to step out of the ordinary and he enjoyed shaking the "now" and the "novel" into their present with strange mannerisms whether it be hitting them on the head with a faux hammer or quietly putting lipstick on his lips at a party. Hunter pushed the envelope and I feel this is what many people loved and also hated about him.
—Turquoise
I have liked oral biographies ever since I read the George Plimpton/Jean Stein volume "Edie," and for dealing with the outsized legacy of Hunter S. Thompson, I think it was a great choice. In the end this book made me no less intrigued by Thompson the writer, even as I came to understand how blowing it on big stories really did seem to be something essential to his writerly DNA. But what really stayed with me is all the unsavory details of just how beastly HST was to the women in his life. It's always hard to know about these things, since to really get it you have to be there, see for yourself, but there were just too, too many stories of antics that left the women in Thompson's life terrorized and demoralized not to have it leave a kind of stain.
—Steve Kettmann
