The proud highway saga of a desperate southern gentleman, 1955-1967
This first volume of the Fear and Loathing Letters begins with a high school essay written in 1955 - when Hunter S. Thompson was a wise (perhaps too wise) teenager in Louisville - and takes us through 1967, when the publication of Hell's Angels made the author an international celebrity (and ne...
| Main Author: | Thompson, Hunter S. |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | Brinkley, Douglas. |
| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Villard,
c1997.
|
| Edition: | 1st ed. |
| Series: |
Fear and loathing letters ;
v. 1 |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
This first volume of the Fear and Loathing Letters begins with a high school essay written in 1955 - when Hunter S. Thompson was a wise (perhaps too wise) teenager in Louisville - and takes us through 1967, when the publication of Hell's Angels made the author an international celebrity (and nearly resulted in his death). In the intervening years, Thompson's prolific and often profound correspondence gives us an unforgettable vista of the America of the Eisenhower and Kennedy years as well as an authoritative introduction to the cultural revolution of the sixties. With a vicious eye for detail, a rude wit, and a brutal take on any and all pretenders, Thompson's missiles pierce pomposity and rattle the soul. Whether written to his mother, Virginia, or to such luminaries as Charles Kuralt, Philip Graham, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, Carey McWilliams, Lyndon Johnson, and Joan Baez, the letters represent the evolution of an American original, a singular voice defying an era of banality. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: |
Includes index. |
| Physical Description: |
xxxii, 683 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. Also issued online. |
| ISBN: |
0679452850 (alk. paper) 9780679452850 (alk. paper) 0679406956 9780679406952 |
| Author Notes: |
During his two years in the US Air Force, Thompson wrote a sports column for The Common Courier. After he was discharged, he moved to New York to work as a copy boy at Time Magazine and later moved to San Juan to write for a Puerto Rican bowling magazine. He also reported to the National Observer from South America. Upon his return to the US, Thompson wrote Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, which became a national bestseller and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was originally published in Rolling Stone magazine. Thompson wrote for Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Esquire. Both Bill Murray and Johnny Depp portrayed Hunter in feature film movies based on his books, Where the Buffalo Roam and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, respectively. Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide on February 20, 2005 at his home in Colorado. (Bowker Author Biography) |