The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson

He was a civil rights activist, a champion of the poor and the environment, an unrepentant substance abuser and a card-carrying member of the NRA. Somehow he was able to espouse the better qualities of libertarianism while at the same time resisting the infantile urge to make a total island of himself. HST was a remarkable thinker and writer, not only for pioneering a whole new form of journalism, but for the sheer range of seemingly contradictory qualities that embodied his life and work. Quite a lot to wade through, but if you're anything like me, you'd probably rather hear it from a drug-addled maniac with no claim to objectivity than some shill for the New York Times. Gets bogged down with minutiae at points, but then this is where we often find some of HST's keener insights re: sports, politics, and everything else, after all the bullshit has been laboriously shoveled, scraped, and swept away. Thompson's razor-sharp insight and crystal clarity capture the crazy, hypocritical, degenerate, and redeeming aspects of the explosive and colorful ‘60s and ‘70s. From this essay a new journalistic movement sprang which would change the shape of American letters. Thompson piece to be dubbed “gonzo”-“The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,” which appeared in Scanlan's Monthly in 1970.

Ranging in date from the National Observer days to the era of Rolling Stone, The Great Shark Hunt offers myriad, highly charged entries, including the first Hunter S. These essays offer brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in signature Thompson style. Thompson’s largest and, arguably, most important work, covering Nixon to napalm, Las Vegas to Watergate, Carter to cocaine. Originally published in 1979, the first volume of the bestselling “Gonzo Papers” is now back in print. Thompson’s bestselling Gonzo Papers offers brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in his signature style.

The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson