"It's a sad book -- tragic, really," writes the L.A. Times' Marc Weingarten of the new oral biography on gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Compiled by his longtime publisher and Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner and Thompson's personal assistant orey Seymour, the book is still probably a must-read for the necessarily aging fans of the so-called doctor, who know that Thompson's painful personal demise was as much a part of the legacy as his great first-person reportage in the 1970s. Thompson once wrote "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." It's debatable whether he went out as a pro when he took his own life as his health withered along with his ability to put together words. But at one time he wrote with the biting, blood-splattered precision of a professional killer, and the best of his work is worth not only recalling but actually re-reading. Some suggestions:
Books:
Hell's Angels
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail
Reportage:
Strange Rumblings in Aztlan, a 1971 Rolling Stone story about climate and culture surrounding the killing of L.A. Times journalist Ruben Salazar on August 29, 1970, the day of the historic National Chicano Moratorium march and rally against the Vietnam War.
Memorable quote:
"To Richard Nixon -- who never let me down."
Opening Sentence to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:
"We were somewhere near Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold."
