Rating: 
Summary: What a LIVER!
Review: Hunter blossoms into psychohood in this grand book of letters of chaos, depression, drunkeness and other similar tales. A must read for the individual who is into writing, and likes literature and humor, and especially if you love hunty.
Rating: 
Summary: An emotional journey for one man's modern enlightenment
Review: Hunter S. Thompson has done it again. Not unlike "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Proud Highway" is a car ride through lost landscapes with the radio on full blast and a bottle of booze between your legs. This wild ride through Thomson's "glory" years and capricious ways envokes the readers sense of both self and life. A must read for the open minded.
Rating:
Summary: HST at his best
Review: Hunter S. Thomson came to the conclusion at a very young age that he was brilliant, and as a result made a point of saving his letters to prove it. Before Gonzo was Gonzo there was Hunter S. Thomason the lover of the written word, and this collection of letters lets you in on the adventure of an author coming of age. Like the readers of Hemmingway and Kerouac, if you are a lover of Hunter S. Thompson's writing you are more than likely a lover of Hunter S. Thompson - This book is for you. Anyone not familiar with HST will find in this book the archetypical American idealist: self reliant, self directed and uncompromising. However what makes Thompson unique is that he is able to write very, very well, and in so doing his journey is told with vibrancy and power that can only be told by a man who has done much, thought a lot, and wrote even more. Editor Douglas Brinkley has done an outstanding job arranging Thompson's "trunk load of letters" from a mix of miscellaneous correspondences into a brilliant historical look at the history of America over latter half of twentieth century.
Rating:
Summary: HST at his best
Review: Hunter S. Thomson came to the conclusion at a very young age that he was brilliant, and as a result made a point of saving his letters to prove it. Before Gonzo was Gonzo there was Hunter S. Thomason the lover of the written word, and this collection of letters lets you in on the adventure of an author coming of age. Like the readers of Hemmingway and Kerouac, if you are a lover of Hunter S. Thompson's writing you are more than likely a lover of Hunter S. Thompson - This book is for you. Anyone not familiar with HST will find in this book the archetypical American idealist: self reliant, self directed and uncompromising. However what makes Thompson unique is that he is able to write very, very well, and in so doing his journey is told with vibrancy and power that can only be told by a man who has done much, thought a lot, and wrote even more. Editor Douglas Brinkley has done an outstanding job arranging Thompson's "trunk load of letters" from a mix of miscellaneous correspondences into a brilliant historical look at the history of America over latter half of twentieth century.
Rating:
Summary: Savage, Vicious Prose
Review: I am a lover of language, an aspiring writer, yet this book has changed me in a way that remains unsurpassed in my personal history. Beyond all of the myth and stigma that accompany HST's persona, he still possesses a singlehanded talent for the written word that remains, in my opinion, unsurpassed by anyone, ever. This volume of collected letters sheds new light on the development of one of the greatest minds of our time. Anyone who has ever brushed their fingertips across a keyboard, who has ever moaned about the sorry state of our "great" country - any American - any human - Everybody should read this book. Everybody.
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Summary: The Great Gonzo Education Course
Review: I first picked up this volume when it was brand new and I was a freshman at USC, just entertaining the notion of becoming a writer. Now, some seven years later, I finally got around to getting my own copy and finishing it recently, I can say it was worth the wait.
Hunter S. Thompson may have only been thirty when the book comes to a close, but he does so much living in the 12 years detailed that one can't help but feel envious. From his stint in the Air Force to his various travels cross-country and to South America, Thompson remains a fiercely independent creature throughout his letters, heaping scorn and praise upon those he corresponds with as he sees fit. The bulk of the first part concerns Thompson's unfruitful look for a steady writing assignment early on, and one feels the sense of desperation and (dare I say) fear and loathing he builds up for the workaday world. Thompson's muse carries him far and wide, to outposts both remote (the heart of deepest South America) and wellknown (New York, San Francisco). Through it all, Thompson never loses sight of his original passion for the written word.
Some of the letters are to family or friends, with some fiery dispatches to entities Thompson felt had hurt him or America in some way (imagine writing a letter to Dubya like the ones Thompson wrote to LBJ without getting the Secret Service breathing down your neck). The friends that Thompson collects range from obvious (Hells Angels, other struggling literati), to the baffling (I had no idea Charles Kuralt and Thompson knew one another). Throughout, Thompson's savage wit and fiery temper burn through even the most customary notes to landlords or editors.
In some ways, Thompson's constant refrain of the "n-word" is disturbing to more modern readers, but like the great writers of the past he is a product of his times. To omit the phrase or other derogatory terms Thompson used in the original letters would be to deny the authenticity of his feelings, and once any initial shock wears off it becomes apparent that Thompson may not even be using the term to refer specifically to African-Americans. That was my only qualm with the content, and it's a credit to his maturity over the course of the years contained that Thompson seems to be far more liberal than his peers from Kentucky.
The first volume made me want to go out and buy the second right away, if only to see what predicaments the Great Gonzo finds himself in. No one wrote letters quite like HST, letters that could stand in their own right as bizarre snapshots of an America in transition. I've even found my own e-mail length increasing mightily since I began the book (for which I apologize to anyone from here on out who I send an unusally long e-mail to). You'll come away from this book with a deeper appreciation for the work Thompson has done to document the death of the American Dream. Captured within these pages are his first inklings that such a thing has come to pass.
From fellow journalists like William Kennedy and Tom Wolfe to LBJ and the NRA, Thompson's letters reflect the wide spectrum of Sixties personalities. Perhaps the most engaging character throughout is Thompson himself. For all his egotism, he is a great writer. The proof is in this book.
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Summary: HST with hair!
Review: I had picked up an interest in the inimitable Doctor of Journalism & his gonzo styling from reading on the filmic "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas", & then seeing the film, & finally reading "The Rum Diary" after picking it up in my college's bookstore immediately prior to Thanksgiving holiday my freshman year... & then, before heading to Spain for a six-months study-abroad stint, I bought "The Proud Highway", & made it the first book I went to when I was jonesing for English in lovely Madrid. & it did not disappoint. In fact, I think I almost prefer this Thompson's exploits & style to his later, more-drugged (or, at least, written to seemed really, really drugged) version. But maybe that is just my youth talking. Or maybe, & more likely, the fact that I picked up on letter-writing --- both postally & via email --- in a major way & have not let up sending missives. & in a highly grammatical style too, which I owe as much to this as to Thomas Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again". Yeah.
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Summary: The man who made Old Crow Famous!
Review: I have just got through reading this collection of Letters and found it to be worthwhile reading. I received the book as a gift and was not aware of a Fear and Loathing Letters Volume. I found this to be a highway of following (if anyone possibly could) and watching Thompson grow as a writer. While at the Air Force Base working as an editor of the Sports Section, he wrote to his family and friends as well as ex-girlfriends. Probably because he was away from home for the first time. As the years go on the more this book became more interesting. Between following all over this country we follow him to South America were some of his best articles came from. I have read Hell's Angels and The Great Shark Hunt and found this to tie in with those books. Through his consumption of Old Crow and god only knows what else, we see letters to LBJ, various magazine editors, and Mr. Semonin and start to see the Hunter we all know and love to come out. The thing that makes him "likeable" is his blunt honesty, since he calls them as he sees them. He is intelligent and knows a lot about everything. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read Thompson! If anything this book offers a chance to see what makes this amazing mind tick!
Rating:
Summary: high quality gonzo
Review: I just got into Hunter S. Thompson, and after reading this book, I don't think I'll ever get out. This guy is amazing. I wouldn't know about being a genius or revolutionary, but he cracks me up...and that's enough. His writing is amazing. His obeservations and his entire outlook on life are very amusing. It makes you think, or at least me, about your position in life. Maybe we should all grab a typewriter, knock back some rum, and hit the road looking for adventure. His life seems so complete in these letters. He lives life the way many of us wish we could.
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Summary: I Guess I'll Let Myself Out Now
Review: I read this book a few years ago, but never felt motivated to write a review until this sad day. HST killed himself last night--a tragic end to a savage, but noble, life. I have read several of HSTs books and articles. They are all wildly original, fearless, brilliant, and (above all) LOL funny. Proud Highway is a fascinating read because it shows the evolution of HST's genius, from teenager through his maturation as a writer. You can see from the letters, all amazingly sharp and intelligent, the hardship, sacrifice, and hard work Thompson went through to become the legendary, "gonzo" journalist he was. Despite his talent and humor, years of fear and loathing must have finally gotten to him. Rest in peace, Raul Duke. You were a true American original and the world will be a poorer place without you.
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