The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1)

I've read all of Thompson's books, and nothing approaches Shark Hunt for sheer ferocity of intelligence, perception, and the gleefully lunatic Gonzo outlook. He put himself fearlessly and hilariously in the middle of his stories and thus changed both modern journalism and history itself as he rocked through some of the wildest times this country will ever see. These are HST's finest magazine pieces from the 60s and 70s, chosen and edited by the author. His takes on Nixon and Ali and Vietnam are startlingly prescient, so dead-on in the hindsight of three decades that one begins to wonder why Thompson isn't ranked with Mailer and Capote and Vidal as one of modern America's most trenchant essayists. He's certainly funnier than all of them put together, with a uniquely skewed stance full of outrage and insanity. Sure, F & L In Vegas gets all the attention, but that book is mainly full-on Gonzo, and, while truly classic, hardly touches this collection for depth of insight and understanding of one of the most vital and transformative periods in American history. The essay on Haight-Ashbury alone is worth the price of this tome; he lived there before the lunacy started and stayed through to its peak, and presents the tale as only one who tripped through the flaked-out soul of that time could. There are sentences in that piece that are pure poetry, some of the finest dissection the 60s ever saw...and that's just the tip of this glorious literary iceberg that melts happily from the hand into the mind. Thompson had a style that is oft-imitated but never approached, and here we see him crafting that style as the years go by, emerging as one of the most unique essayists this country has ever produced. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that HST is the most hilariously readable of modern American non-fiction writers...and this is his magnum opus. If you like to laugh while you think about what really matters, this is your baby. Not to be missed.

I've read all of Thompson's books, and nothing approaches Shark Hunt for sheer ferocity of intelligence, perception, and the gleefully lunatic Gonzo outlook. He put himself fearlessly and hilariously in the middle of his stories and thus changed both modern journalism and history itself as he rocked through some of the wildest times this country will ever see. These are HST's finest magazine pieces from the 60s and 70s, chosen and edited by the author. His takes on Nixon and Ali and Vietnam are startlingly prescient, so dead-on in the hindsight of three decades that one begins to wonder why Thompson isn't ranked with Mailer and Capote and Vidal as one of modern America's most trenchant essayists. He's certainly funnier than all of them put together, with a uniquely skewed stance full of outrage and insanity. Sure, F & L In Vegas gets all the attention, but that book is mainly full-on Gonzo, and, while truly classic, hardly touches this collection for depth of insight and understanding of one of the most vital and transformative periods in American history. The essay on Haight-Ashbury alone is worth the price of this tome; he lived there before the lunacy started and stayed through to its peak, and presents the tale as only one who tripped through the flaked-out soul of that time could. There are sentences in that piece that are pure poetry, some of the finest dissection the 60s ever saw...and that's just the tip of this glorious literary iceberg that melts happily from the hand into the mind. Thompson had a style that is oft-imitated but never approached, and here we see him crafting that style as the years go by, emerging as one of the most unique essayists this country has ever produced. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that HST is the most hilariously readable of modern American non-fiction writers...and this is his magnum opus. If you like to laugh while you think about what really matters, this is your baby. Not to be missed.

"When the going gets weird, the weird go pro."-Hunter S. Thompson In a time of political peril and rancor in our countries capitol this book speaks volumes. Hunter S. Thompson provides many snapshots into the American political system with this book. It is not a complete narrative. Rather this book is filled with high lights of Thompson's journalistic works. It is a collection of articles written for the "Rolling Stone," and various other publications. Due undoubtedly to my youth, I have found the current state of America to be very disturbing. Reading this book has given me a chance to take a deep breath because the problems our country is facing are not new. They are just the same old problems we have always had. If you are a person that likes to "Bush Bash," this book will give you plenty of new ammunition. Thompson's rants about Nixon are very similar to the things I have heard said about President Bush. Unfortunately, for all of us, the parallels are mostly negative. If President Clinton was a new John F. Kennedy, then "The Great Shark Hunt" has led me to believe President Bush is a new Richard M. Nixon.

I know Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the "Great Work" for which he will be forever remembered and deservedly so. However, Shark Hunt is a kind of Penguin Reader of the Essential HST and as such is the indespensable survey of the glory years. I read this six or eight times between the ages of 19 and 22. If you have a brain ripe for warping, crack this one some time.

"Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" is his most famous book, and rightly so. But that was just one notorious blip in a long and notorious career. "Shark Hunt" collects Thompson's best work from the 60s and 70s, which is when the man was at his best, smartest and funniest. Read here his profound and alarming stories on Ali, Jimmy Carter, death and distaster in East LA, the Kentucky Derby, wars, riots, booze, himself, himself and himself. This is the stuff that made HST one of the greatest and most unconventional (and influential) journalists of his time. To understand Hunter S. Thompson and his work, the place to turn is not "Las Vegas," but here. The only complaint is that the Ralph Steadman drawings that accompanied the stories when they first appeared in Rolling Stone are sadly missing. A new special edition is probably in order...