Rating: 
Summary: Only a Fool would call it Anything Else
Review: Swanson from Danville gets it; Smith from Portland and especially Standiford from Cypress are lost in space-perhaps they've heard the Song of the Sausage Creature once too often. Yes, the Doc recounts Events that we've read about before, like the Freak Power campaign of 1970. But there's so much more to it than that. Thompson's dismay (Fear) at the Deterioration of due process of the law in the American justice system and his anger (Loathing) at the Contempt and Utter Disregard shown by the current powers that be toward the Bill of Rights and all things Constitutional are the common threads weaved Artfully through each one of his thoroughly enjoyable and creatively titled stories. And somehow he manages to maintain his Sense of Humor. Buy the ticket, take the ride. Thompson has spent most of his Prodigious career in Gonzo Journalism chronicling the Death of the American Dream, pronouncing our Hopelessness and Impending Doom and entertaining himself and some of the rest of us with the delicious Absurdity of it all. But you're left with an underlying Sense that he's pulling for the good guys to Ultimately Triumph. Reading this book one gets the sense that the Doc feels that The Odds are now Prohibitive of the good guys ever emerging Victorious. Mahalo. I've read all of Thompson's books, most more than once, for their Social and Political Commentary as well as their Entertainment Value, and this one is by Far his Best and Most Important work. It's also the most disturbing and most depressing, especially in light of the Doc's Clarity of Vision and Dedication to the Truth, but it's by Far his Best and Most Important work. Res Ipsa Loquitur.
Rating: 
Summary: The Doc is aging like everyone else...
Review: The Doc is still fun to read but he doesn't seem to have had any fire in his belly for some time.Then again,these kinds of people are usually over the hill by the time they reach 40.Willie Nelson,Hank Williams,Kristofferson,Dylan, Guthrie,Brendan Behan,Carvell,Nicholson,Belushi all succumbed to the ravishes of time;why even our old friend Duke of Doonesbury is getting a little frayed around the edges.
Don't take me wrong,the Doc hasn't joined up with society or anything like it yet;nor is he likely to.
He still retains the Leadership of his Party of One.
"You can't Hoard fun.It has no shelf life."
He still believes "Justice is the Whim of the Judge" ;so I guess there,s still hope.
Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Thompson's high-speed burn forward towards the end of hi
Review: The picture on the hardcover jacket speaks louder than words, describing every aspect of Hunter Thompson, he did what he did and he had a good time doing it. The testosterone filled maniacal symbol of tale that Dr. Thompson presents in his work astounds any individual reader, whether it be about politics or drugs. "Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century," will be either Thompson's final published work before he leaves us, or one of the final few. Thompson rehashes old political coverage, tells of personal glory and debauchery, finds friends and family to be the greatest of all stories told, and yes, presents photocopied replicas of letters received and distributed. The addiction and craving for personal perfection with the written word run strong and deep with this man, and this detail of character will keep his work somewhat comprehensible and sane through all the incomprehensible and insanity. "The police don't have a sense of humor anymore," Dr. Thompson wrote in "Kingdom of Fear." This quote not only hits the nail on the head with the current social and economic problems, but with the ever increasing militarization of law enforcement and has been stated by this writers own father... in verbatim! Thompson refuses to refrain from giving a good tongue-lashing to all the current and former leaders of the United States, though he does maintain his main theme of personal biographical accounts. He delves into criticism of current president George Bush and crony henchmen, but also saves some diatribe for "Arkansas traveling salesman" Bill Clinton. One could argue the idea of Hunter Thompson becoming a complete nut job due to his excessive drug use and public behavior, his appearance on Late Night with Conan O' Brien sealed his fate, but he still holds a sense of fluid writing that holds humanist qualities. So he is not a fiend or addict, or even some kind of "high-power mutant," while he comes across as a little sketchy, he is mostly still cognitive. It seems as though Thompson in his writings subconsciously needs to come to terms with his own certain demise as every thinking human does. His writing tends to have a certain banal philosophy towards death and denies himself from pushing the limits... this is why Thompson is one of the greats.
Rating:
Summary: Nice to see you back Doc!
Review: This Book is one hell of a ride in todays fischer price pre packaged world. We need this infusion to make us look at ourselves and realize what a real individualist is. Our proud doc laces his own personal experiences with his dire outlook on todays world. Hopefuly this voice can be heard louder up and down the food chain and can influence another generation to see something besides the processed meilieu on the news today. Its scary to see things were freer under President Nixon than today. It opens your eyes. All and All a brilliant script to the whirlwind life of the Grand Pubah of Gonzo. Many More to come, PLEASE!
Rating: 
Summary: Big Dissappointment
Review: This book is typical of the latest Thompson has been coming out with lately. All he's been doing is rehashing his old writings and reprinting them again. There's a whole chapter on the time he went to Grenada. That may have been interesting 15 years ago but reading it today is about as exiting as a Joe Leiberman speech. He also rehashes the infamous Gail Palmer-Slater incident that he went to court for as if we didn't hear enough about it in Songs of The Doomed. He does write some new stuff in the book but it sounds more like Ozzy Osbourne trying to deliver a speech by General Patton then good political journalism. Thompson likes to think of himself as a big fourth amendment supporter and there's much to be agreed with what he says about Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft but he's completely silent about Janet Reno and Bill Clinton. Clinton was all about building a police state and Reno treated the fourth amendment like a piece of toilet paper. But they're both Democrats so they get to escape any criticism from Thompson. I used to be a huge fan of Thompson's but he's become a real poster boy for why you shouldn't do drugs. I can only imagine what he'll try and put out in his next literary work. Perhaps he'll print a book of his fan mail and make a few comments in between the letters. Save yourself some money and read one of his old books over again. You'll be reading most of his old stuff if you buy this book anyways.
Rating:
Summary: The Doctor just keeps truckin
Review: This book may have been billed as a memoir, but it just seemed like another collection of a combination of the Gonzo papers and the Gonzo letters volumes. It is a good read as usual, with the doctor writing about everyone and everything from his court battle over our 4th amendment rights, working as night manager at the O'Farrel, as well as dealing with an uppity out of towner that wanted to change everything about Woody Creek. That hit close to home because there are a few here in Montrose, that want to make the town everything all of us that live here don't want it to be. He also touches on our new war on "Terrorism" and the events leading up to this war, which still is a touchy subject. He analyzes it only like he can. So go buy or borrow a copy and enjoy. Find out why he is not fond of Judges or sheephearders near Elko. You owe it to yourself if you are a fan of Hunter S Thompson.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and thought-provoking but a bit incoherent.
Review: This is my first taste of Thompson's adrenaline-fuelled writing and although entertaining and thought-provoking, I'm left with mixed feelings about the book's overall coherency. There's no denying Thompson is a talented writer with the ability to dig his nails into you, dragging you on a wild rollercoaster ride, but at the same time he tends to come off the rails every now and then and take you on massive, sometimes pointless, detours before finishing off the original thread. However, the energy of his writing still makes these sidetracks entertaining.
This book is not an autobiography by any means, more a collection of anecdotes which highlight Thompson's central theme of an America wrought with Fear, demanding justice at the expense of individual liberties. According to Hunter, America is in decline - it is the end of the American Century - and he'll go down fighting and screaming to protect the rights of the individual already eroded by the Bush administration. Will you join him in protecting the liberty on which America was founded or stand by and watch as we slowly bequeath our rights to the State?
That is Thompson's main point but often it gets lost in the fog of his stream-of-consciousness prose. I'm still not sure what relevance his Cuba visit had to the overall theme and there are other instances where he seems to ramble on for no apparent reason, diluting the central message of the book. As I mentioned earlier though, he's a fantastically energetic writer who mostly gets away with this through the addictive power of his words. This book is a good read so don't be frightened off by the above criticism; I'm merely preparing you to be yanked all over the place while Thompson gets his point across. The core theme of the book is such that it will hopefully shock you into action. As Thompson quotes Edmund Burke, 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.'
Rating:
Summary: Don't Believe the naysayers, He's still got it
Review: This is some of the best Thompson I've read in a while. This book is just as good as his previous stuff at the height of his powers in the '70s wandering the country high on everything, being a pain in Nixon's a$$, and running for sherriff or Fat City. This is a great book, I'm an avid follower of the Dr. but even I was expecting something of a letdown compared to his earlier material. To my pleasant surprise, this book equals anything he's done. Read it now.
Rating:
Summary: Thompson: A Razor Cutting Through The Soft Underbelly
Review: This is the best thing Hunter has written since the 1970s. More than just a collection of columns and articles, it is Hunter trying to tie together the sum of his wild life while shedding light on the wretched state of today's union. To call Hunter tired, old and played-out are serious misjudgements. The tide of doom is rising, life in America is getting more bizarre every day: THIS IS THE TIME FOR HUNTER S. THOMPSON!
Rating:
Summary: What's going on this country?
Review: Uncle Duke gives us the answer to that question pretty much right away. "Never ask that question unless you already know the answer." The next question he knows the answer to is "is this a great country, or what?". The safe answer is "Yes, and thank you for asking". Any other answer will get your name on the waiting list of accommodations at Guantianamo Bay. Yes, as others have said.... this really is nothing new from Uncle Duke... except now he is saying these things when, maybe for the first time since Nixon was in the White House, these are dangerous thoughts to have. What makes this so good is that they are being said in the post-9/11 funtime jamboree that we call The War on Terrorism...whatever the heck that means. As somebody who came to HST's writings late... As I wasn't born when he first started writing... I took note of him when I was in High School, if only because his thinking seemed to run parallel to George Carlin, or later... Kevin Smith in some aspects. But of course, HST's thoughts are much more fully developed and reasoned out. Which of course, while Carlin and Smith might flirt with respectability to the outside world, HST makes no attempt to suger coat his life, politics, thoughts or philosophy for outside consumption. Which means he ain't playing the BS game most in the world play. Not to say he ain't BS'ing... Just that he plays more by his own made-up rules rather than those of others. He advertises himself and is thought by many to be a totally crazed out wack job. Which, of course, is basically what he hopes is true. Cause if he ain't crazy, then what he's seeing today in America is seriously down-right scary. Which, as scary as it seems, makes him maybe the only serious rational person left on the planet. Which leads one to wonder if the outside world is just playing out J. G. Ballard's short story "The Insane Ones" for real. Which, of course, makes Dr. Gonzo the Twain for our time.
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