Victoria Jackson
American actress
Hunter S. Thompson was an iconic American journalist and author known for his unconventional ‘Gonzo’ writing style. He rose to prominence with his book ‘Hell’s Angels’ and his influential articles like ‘The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved’. Thompson became a countercultural figure and covered major events like the 1972 presidential campaign.
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About the Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompsonwas an American journalist and author. He rose to prominence with the publication of Hell’s Angels (1967), a book for which he spent a year living with the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved” for Scanlan’s Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establishing his own subgenre of New Journalism that he called “Gonzo”, a journalistic style in which the writer becomes a central figure and participant in the events of the narrative.
Thompson remains best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972), a book first serialized in Rolling Stone in which he grapples with the implications of what he considered the failure of the 1960s counterculture movement. It was adapted for film twice: loosely in 1980 in Where the Buffalo Roam and explicitly in 1998 in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Thompson ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado in 1970 on the Freak Power ticket. He became known for his intense dislike of Richard Nixon, who he claimed represented “that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character”. He covered George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign for Rolling Stone and later collected the stories in book form as Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 (1973).
Starting in the mid-1970s, Thompson’s output declined, as he struggled with the consequences of fame and substance abuse, and failed to complete several high-profile assignments for Rolling Stone. For much of the late 1980s and early 1990s, he worked as a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner. Most of his work from 1979 to 1994 was collected in The Gonzo Papers. He continued to write sporadically for various outlets, including Rolling Stone, Playboy, Esquire, and ESPN.com until the end of his life.
Thompson was known for his lifelong use of alcohol and illegal drugs, his love of firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authority. He often remarked: “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.” Thompson died by suicide at the age of 67, following a series of health problems. Hari Kunzru wrote, “The true voice of Thompson is revealed to be that of American moralist … one who often makes himself ugly to expose the ugliness he sees around him.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Hunter S. Thompson was an American journalist and author who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 70s. He is best known for his innovative ‘Gonzo’ writing style and works like ‘Hell’s Angels’ and ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.
The ‘Gonzo’ journalism style pioneered by Hunter S. Thompson involves the writer becoming a central figure and participant in the events they are covering, blurring the line between fact and fiction.
In 1970, Hunter S. Thompson ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado on the Freak Power ticket, campaigning on a platform of renaming the town of Aspen to ‘Fat City’ to deter developers.
Hunter S. Thompson was known for his strong criticism of Richard Nixon, whom he claimed represented ‘that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character’. This was reflected in his writings covering Nixon’s presidency and the 1972 presidential campaign.
In the mid-1970s and beyond, Hunter S. Thompson struggled with the consequences of fame and substance abuse, which led to a decline in his writing output and an inability to complete several high-profile assignments.
Hunter S. Thompson’s unconventional ‘Gonzo’ journalism style and his iconic works like ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ had a significant influence on popular culture, cementing his status as a countercultural figure and literary legend.
Hunter S. Thompson died by suicide at the age of 67, following a series of health problems that he had struggled with in the later years of his life.
26 Quotes by Hunter S. Thompson
- 1.
In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 2.
The person who doesn’t scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 3.
America… just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 4.
It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 5.
You better take care of me Lord, if you don’t you’re gonna have me on your hands.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 6.
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 7.
I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 8.
Of all the men that have run for president in the twentieth century, only George McGovern truly understood what a monument America could be to the human race.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 9.
The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 10.
Going to trial with a lawyer who considers your whole life-style a Crime in Progress is not a happy prospect.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 11.
Buy the ticket, take the ride.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 12.
If I’d written all 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 S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 13.
You can turn your back on a person, but never turn your back on a drug, especially when its waving a razor sharp hunting knife in your eye.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 14.
No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 15.
That was always the difference between Muhammad Ali and the rest of us. He came, he saw, and if he didn’t entirely conquer – he came as close as anybody we are likely to see in the lifetime of this doomed generation.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 16.
The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around, especially as President.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 17.
The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 18.
Politics is the art of controlling your environment.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 19.
A word to the wise is infuriating.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 20.
For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 21.
If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you’re going to be locked up.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 22.
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 23.
I wouldn’t recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they’ve always worked for me.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 24.
I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 25.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)
- 26.
There is nothing more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge.
Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and author (1937-2005)