Rating: 
Summary: The Doctor At His Best
Review: "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" is his most famous book, and rightly so. But that was just one notorious blip in a long and notorious career. "Shark Hunt" collects Thompson's best work from the 60s and 70s, which is when the man was at his best, smartest and funniest. Read here his profound and alarming stories on Ali, Jimmy Carter, death and distaster in East LA, the Kentucky Derby, wars, riots, booze, himself, himself and himself. This is the stuff that made HST one of the greatest and most unconventional (and influential) journalists of his time. To understand Hunter S. Thompson and his work, the place to turn is not "Las Vegas," but here. The only complaint is that the Ralph Steadman drawings that accompanied the stories when they first appeared in Rolling Stone are sadly missing. A new special edition is probably in order...
Rating:
Summary: The Doctor At His Best
Review: "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" is his most famous book, and rightly so. But that was just one notorious blip in a long and notorious career. "Shark Hunt" collects Thompson's best work from the 60s and 70s, which is when the man was at his best, smartest and funniest. Read here his profound and alarming stories on Ali, Jimmy Carter, death and distaster in East LA, the Kentucky Derby, wars, riots, booze, himself, himself and himself. This is the stuff that made HST one of the greatest and most unconventional (and influential) journalists of his time. To understand Hunter S. Thompson and his work, the place to turn is not "Las Vegas," but here. The only complaint is that the Ralph Steadman drawings that accompanied the stories when they first appeared in Rolling Stone are sadly missing. A new special edition is probably in order...
Rating:
Summary: Witty Collection of Life's Drunkeness
Review: A MUST READ! Not only can Thompson's novel reflect what we think to ourselves, but it goes further into bringing out the past which some of us weren't alive to live through. Having to put down the book to fall asleap was the worst part about it.
Rating:
Summary: Thompson at his best
Review: Before the world became jaded and hopeless, before the good doctor became a world-renown celebrity, before he was regularly given free women and/or drugs, before he became a caricature in the movies and of himself, Hunter S. Thompson was The Man. And this book will show you why. The pre-Gonzo South American pieces may seem at first pedestrian compared to his most famous works but they at least show the compassion and hope the man had.
Rating:
Summary: The Bible of Gonzo.
Review: Here's one book which collects, in scores of stories and articles spanning a few hundred pages, every facet of Hunter S. Thompson's career, in which he seamlessly transitioned from staid Air Force newspaper writer to roaming correspondent for the now-defunct _National Observer_ to edgy compatriot of the Hell's Angels to full-bore, drug-addled gonzo journalist. And everything inbetween, to boot.Nowhere else is the richness of Thompson's talent so fully illustrated than in _Shark Hunt_. Here, in "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved," a chronicle of the yearly madness in Thompson's hometown of Louisville, the reader experiences the earliest rumblings of what would later become a totally unique journalistic style that he further developed in "Fear and Loathing at the Super Bowl," also found here. We are also treated to assorted dispatches from Thompson's travels throughout North and South America, written when he was a roaming correspondent for Dow Jones' _National Observer._ Here the true skill and power of Thompson's writing becomes apparent -- an observation both powerful and poignant when these writings are compared to his later works, making it clear that the drugs have indeed taken their toll on his remarkable mind. For the new Gonzoist, excerpts are included from _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_ as well as _Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72._ Through not very useful if you own these books already, they still make for fun bathroom reading. Also included are most, if not all, of Thompson's articles for "Rolling Stone" about the Watergate scandal and Nixon's resignation -- truly rollicking political tales full of savage grace and fiendish wit. Sadly lacking are Ralph Steadman's original drawings which accompanied the stories in RS. There's more, too: stories about the "Brown Power" revolts in Los Angeles in the late 1960s; tales of Oscar Acosta, Thompson's mysterious Mexican-American lawyer friend who was the model for the "300-pound Samoan lawyer" in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Thompson's experiences in Muhammad Ali's training camp; his bizarre times with Jean-Claude Killy and O.J. Simpson as they travel through America hucking Chevrolets at auto shows in the early 1970s. These are indeed strange tales from a strange time. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Read to understand the politics and culture of the 70's
Review: Hunter S. Thompson is the craziest author that I have ever read. He has a specific style that I have never really seen before. He will go from one idea directly into a totally different one, and then back. The book itself is basically little stories composed on Thompson's experiences as a journalist. The stories take place generally in the 70's, and they are crazy. His constant religious metaphors are often hard to follow. My favorite story in the book is "Fear and Loathing at the Super Bowl." This is about a time when he was covering the Miami Super Bowl game. He is in a hotel and spends his time gambling and drinking. Drugs are a major influence on his life, which is one of the reasons he writes the way that he does. Throughout the story, you are introduced to many strange characters. These characters are described through the eyes of Thomson, which makes them all the more stranger. Thomson talks about preaching from his 15th story hotel room and in the lobby. The next second he is paranoid that the manager is after him. Thomson is an incredible journalist and writer, and his stories are outrageously interesting and thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: The Great Shark Hunt Review
Review: Hunter S. Thompson is the craziest author that I have ever read. He has a specific style that I have never really seen before. He will go from one idea directly into a totally different one, and then back. The book itself is basically little stories composed on Thompson's experiences as a journalist. The stories take place generally in the 70's, and they are crazy. His constant religious metaphors are often hard to follow. My favorite story in the book is "Fear and Loathing at the Super Bowl." This is about a time when he was covering the Miami Super Bowl game. He is in a hotel and spends his time gambling and drinking. Drugs are a major influence on his life, which is one of the reasons he writes the way that he does. Throughout the story, you are introduced to many strange characters. These characters are described through the eyes of Thomson, which makes them all the more stranger. Thomson talks about preaching from his 15th story hotel room and in the lobby. The next second he is paranoid that the manager is after him. Thomson is an incredible journalist and writer, and his stories are outrageously interesting and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Gonzo Journalism
Review: Hunter S. Thompson is the inventor of gonzo journalism and his writings in Rolling Stone magazine propelled him from a minor figure on the scene into a superstar. Mr. Thompson's main area of interest is politics, but he has written articles for Sports Illustrated and it was on an assignment to cover a car race in Las Vegas for them that led to his infamous Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas writings. Excerpts from that book and several others and magazine articles are buffered by Mr. Thompson's musings on the pieces. Hunter Thompson isn't for everybody, but if you want inciteful cutting edge, funny and always controversial looks at life in America, then Mr. Thompson is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Gonzo Journalism
Review: Hunter S. Thompson is the inventor of gonzo journalism and his writings in Rolling Stone magazine propelled him from a minor figure on the scene into a superstar. Mr. Thompson's main area of interest is politics, but he has written articles for Sports Illustrated and it was on an assignment to cover a car race in Las Vegas for them that led to his infamous Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas writings. Excerpts from that book and several others and magazine articles are buffered by Mr. Thompson's musings on the pieces. Hunter Thompson isn't for everybody, but if you want inciteful cutting edge, funny and always controversial looks at life in America, then Mr. Thompson is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Read to understand the politics and culture of the 70's
Review: I dont often write reviews. This book, however, was so profound and culturally enlightning, that I could not pass up the opportunity to rave about it. I was born in the late seventy's in a conservative household in Texas. Needless to say, I never knew how admirable Carter was, or the hopes of the counter-culture movement (only the failures). Thompson writes very personal pictures of people, from Muhamid Ali to Jimmy Carter to the Hell's Angels that he had the opportunity to ride with. This is a brilliant work!
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