Rating: 
Summary: Long, but a good read
Review: If you have never read HST, this is not the book to start with. I would only recommend this book to those who have read at least two or three books of his. (one of those should be Hell's Angels) This is great collection of letters that shows HST's progression to the great writer he is today. From his days early on as a sports writer, to his travelling in South America to him writting about Hell's Angels. This is a great book for HST fans. It gives you great insight into HST life and times. It is long, and some of the letters are repetitive, but overall a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Effort....
Review: If you've never read any of Thompson's works, I recommend you *not* start with this one. Buy a used copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (it's a relatively short book), read it and see what you think. You'll probably draw one of two conclusions: 1.Thompson is some kind of psychotic who should be put under surveillance, or 2. You'll find his stories hilarious and unlike any you've read before.If you end up in the latter category, then buy this book. It will immediately give you a sense of how this man grew into his profession and how he became the person he is. However, that is not to say it's necessarily an easy read. Like any treasure hunt, you'll have to do some digging to find the gems in this collection -- some passages are a bit dreary if not downright depressing. But every chapter contains stories or commentaries which are truly priceless. I started reading this book on a long flight across country; I laughed out loud so many times my fellow passengers probably wanted to strangle me. Hell, I wanted to strangle me ... but I couldn't help it. Thompson's commentaries on the powers that be, relationships, and a host of other subjects are so brutally funny it's impossible not to laugh aloud at times. Not if you have a pulse....
Rating:
Summary: blow by blow account of a writers journey
Review: Jeez. I thought ol' Hunter had laid down and died but up comes this ball bustin'account of the apprenticeship, knocks and blows that led to the good doctor. he lives, grows and forms until there is only the alter of GONZO to prostrate oneself before. To Hunter, You outlived that twisted bastard Nixon, I hope you outlive them all.
Rating:
Summary: Pure, Beautiful, Inspirational. The Doctor has real class.
Review: Jesus, what can I say in this breif space what this man has done HUMANITY? It may not be as evident to many, I have SEEN the future... IT IS GONZO! Indeed. I've been on such a HST kick in the last couple of years, that I surely have the Fear.
It's downright hideous the many nasty ways I've
slowly been sucked into his dark vortex... His writing has altered my very PERCEPTION of written communication... I CAN SEE CLEARLY,
and his latest, Proud Highway, has only opened my depraved, obssessed eyes WIDER...
THERE CAN BE NO DENYING--THIS IS MAGNIFICENT AND TRULY REAL HUNTER.
Rating:
Summary: It's Not Just A Letter, It's an Adventure
Review: Oh my....as it turns out, the poor bastard has always walked a thin line between fact and fiction. The despair of poverty will, eventually, drive the courageous to drop their drawers, paste a strained grin on, and let Survival massage their rumps until Mediocrity has once again triumphed. Even the friggin' cavemen eventually traded in their comfortable loin cloths for ties - hey, yagottamakalivin'. Poor Survival - he had it too easy for too many centuries. And when Thompson reared his rapidly balding skull, he didn't know what to do.
And neither, by the way, did our hero. Urged forward by Fate, convinced of his greatness, Dr. T. refused to bare his skinny ass, refused to stop writing, and - eventually - he conquered both Survival and Mediocrity. Yes, Virginia, before Fear and Loathing, there was a man who knew Courage and Focus.
Read this
Rating:
Summary: The compelling pre-gonzo mind at its finest
Review: Perhaps, as Hunter Thompson suggests in The Proud Highway, people really do take more of a liking to his letters and not his serious work. This statement is easily endorsed by the fine contents that surround it. This is the perfect book for a typical Thompson fan, a collection of eccentric one plus page letters that suit a person with a short attention span. His sylistic prose is best received in short bursts, such as essays, articles, and letters. The letter format also allows us to see the evolution and experimentation Thompson has endured in his life. This pre-gonzo collection is Thompson as himself, not the "Raoul Duke" character he has personified in the past. While Hunter seems incapable of writing anything unautobiographical, the fact remains he is far more qualified to tell this story than any hack biographer seeking to romanticize and sensationalize Thompson's myth for a profit. The Proud Highway tells Thompson's story in a much more engaging fashion than the biographies, though there is no lack of effort and emulation in any of these books. This book should be required reading for aspiring authors.
Rating:
Summary: I bet Oprah won't put her label on this one.
Review: Raise this book high and salute the will of a man to lay his life out in unsanitized words for all to see. This is a book that proves that the pen is not only mightier than the sword but leaves scars that cut deeper and last much longer. Not since Jack London's "Martin Eden" have I read such a terrifying account of a writer struggling against the forces in society that sneer and wag their self-righteous fingers at honesty, and even more so the will of the messenger to reveal it. Part anarchist and full iconoclast, Thompson takes on all comers from Hell's Angels to Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and especially the low-life agents and editors that would steal thier mother's walking stick to fend off a writer coming after his (or her) due. If you enjoy Thompson's work this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Never give up hope.
Review: So i was down to my last £10 and it was 3 weeks till payday, i'd been stuck in this crappy computing job for over a year since leaving college with a journalism qualification but as yet no takers. My dreams of making it big in journalism by coming to London had vanished slowly but my debts were increasing rapidly and I was seriously contemplating hitting the road back North when a work colleague recommended reading The Proud Highway and suddenly there was hope. Reading Hunters letters every night reminded me why i had started this journey and why its the trip that counts. Hearing about Thompsons ever increasing debts, drunken nights and non stop writing made me realise that to give up while the fire still burns inside to is to give up and die. Firing off freelance articles has finally paid off, so thanks Hunter for not compromising and never giving up.
Rating:
Summary: Best Read of That Summer
Review: Thanks to a remote control surfing accident, I landed on THE CHARLIE ROSE SHOW the Friday night before Father's Day, the night Rose attempted to interview the sixty year-old Thompson. Strangely enough, I received this book of letters two days later as a gift. This collection proves to be a unique kind of auto-biography in which the reader witnesses the development of a much-underrated prose stylist from his high school years to the late 1960's. More than just "gonzo" hyperbole, the contents of this volume are entertaining, charming, forthright, and at times prophetic--an early sixties prediction that Reagan would one day be president, for example. I would not have thought that I would say this, but it was the best read of that summer.
Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: These are letters of Hunter S. Thompson. They range from letters to publishers to letters to his land lord. Great for the Thompson fanatic.
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