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Rating: 
Summary: What a long, strange trip its been
Review: Before he burned himself out on drugs, Hunter Thompson was perhaps the best and certainly most vicious humor writer in America. Unfortunately, by the time the 1980s rolled around, Thompson had lost a few miles-an-hour off his fastball and could no longer knock 'em dead like he used to. Though you can still delight at the occasional potshot at those in power (like his description of George Bush senior as "the mean, preppie vice president"), overall he fails to consistently produce the kind of cutting satire that he could in his prime. It was almost as if he had come to personify the "Uncle Duke" character by which Gary Trudeau had been lampooning him for all these years. Sadly, we must use his own words to report that the master has "cashed his check."
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good place to start, but a fine place to continue.
Review: Fear & Loathing on the campaign trail is probablly the good doctor's masterpiece but pretty much any of the gonzo papers books are well worth a read. It might have been interesting if a younger, angrier HST had been unleashed on the 1980s but this is a mellowed Thompson. But not too mellow. What you get is often hilariously funny stuff about Reagan, drugs, gambling, Iran and inevitably, Richard Nixon. Not a major work and it is slightly inconsistant, but every so often the doc's depraved mind slips into a higher gear and you're glad that the old bugger isn't dead yet. In fact, when he does finally peg out, someone should white the last few paragraphs of the introduction on his tombstone: Hunter's almost serious take on heaven and hell which is worth the price of admission alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Hunter's look at the decade of boredom!!
Review: I found this book to be quite entertaining. He writes on getting late night tattoo's, the Iran-Contra affair, Gary Hart and what was the 1988 presidential campaign, and racing jeeps outside the legendary Woody Creek Tavern. The book is not the best, but neither was the '80's and Hunter covered it like only he could cover them. He seemed interested in the book of revalations more than ever, but that was because president Ronald was a devoute bible reader himself and always said the people of the '80's will be the generation to see the "apocolypse." So between the book of revelations and talking about the generation of swine, Hunter is not quite his old self, but still sharp as a razor!
Rating:
Summary: Not as sharp, but never dull
Review: I read this book right after "The Great Shark Hunt," and it was a bit of a let down. The articles are all around two to three pages in Generation of Swine, so none of them are as intricate nor as detailed as some of the masterpieces found in Shark Hunt. The first half of the book is the most relaxed writing I've read of Thompson, lots about gambling, shooting and life around Woody Creek. When the Iran Contra scandal starts to heat up Thompson comes alive. He's back to his acid spitting deconstruction of the American political engine. His attacks become ever more frenzied until Bush Sr. escapes the noose for his involvement in the whole affair. This seems to cool Thompson down he seems resigned to fate; 15 years earlier he would have written 30 page rallying cries, like "The Scum also Rises," but he's an older now and he takes it in stride. It's an interesting book, and fantastic journalism. The 80's weren't half as dynamic as the 60's or 70's and as such it's not the place to start with Thompson. However, it might very well be the place to end.
Rating:
Summary: Not as sharp, but never dull
Review: I read this book right after "The Great Shark Hunt," and it was a bit of a let down. The articles are all around two to three pages in Generation of Swine, so none of them are as intricate nor as detailed as some of the masterpieces found in Shark Hunt. The first half of the book is the most relaxed writing I've read of Thompson, lots about gambling, shooting and life around Woody Creek. When the Iran Contra scandal starts to heat up Thompson comes alive. He's back to his acid spitting deconstruction of the American political engine. His attacks become ever more frenzied until Bush Sr. escapes the noose for his involvement in the whole affair. This seems to cool Thompson down he seems resigned to fate; 15 years earlier he would have written 30 page rallying cries, like "The Scum also Rises," but he's an older now and he takes it in stride. It's an interesting book, and fantastic journalism. The 80's weren't half as dynamic as the 60's or 70's and as such it's not the place to start with Thompson. However, it might very well be the place to end.
Rating:
Summary: savagely funny
Review: I read this book when it first came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, it helps if you are a political junkie. The surprising thing, though, is how I think it holds up, even though so many of the anecdotes and columns are topical of the era in which it was written. I picked this up the other day at the book store, on a whim, and sat down to revisit it. I was laughing so uncontrollably, and for such a period of time, that a lady sitting nearby asked me what I was reading, went and got a copy for herself, started perusing it and ended up buying it. Nobody...NOBODY is as perfectly vicious and insanely funny at the same time. He is like an impressionist political commentator. His portraits of George Bush Sr here aren't quite accurate...but something about the way he exagerates the man's traits captures his essence more clearly than any attempt at objectivity could hope for. If only he were still covering politics...
Rating: 
Summary: Incoherent Soliloquy
Review: In this HST compilation we are presented with a collection of over one hundred writings, all dated throughout a short period of the 1980s. Almost all of it is rambling prose and soliloquy. Because there was never any explanation of the context, intent, or setting in these writings, one can not easily understand it nor get any inferred meaning out of it. He could have noted the circumstances of the places and people that he was writing about. Instead this was just slapped together, lumped it into one, and dumped on bookshelves. A lot of his opinions come off as if he is on a self-righteous pedestal. He also liked to frequently note, that this or that famous person he was writing about was "a friend of mine." In writing, once a person's name gets to a certain point he can convince a publisher to put out his work out no matter how awful onto the market, even if it is self-aggrandizing ramblings that no one can relate to nor benefit from. So-called Gonzo journalism is mostly for those who couldn't write their way out of a paper bag. HST lost his touch about thirty years ago. Take him out of the oven, he's done.
Rating:
Summary: Incoherent Soliloquy
Review: In this HST compilation we are presented with a collection of over one hundred writings, all dated throughout a short period of the 1980s. Almost all of it is rambling prose and soliloquy. Because there was never any explanation of the context, intent, or setting in these writings, one can not easily understand it nor get any inferred meaning out of it. He could have noted the circumstances of the places and people that he was writing about. Instead this was just slapped together, lumped it into one, and dumped on bookshelves. A lot of his opinions come off as if he is on a self-righteous pedestal. He also liked to frequently note, that this or that famous person he was writing about was "a friend of mine." In writing, once a person's name gets to a certain point he can convince a publisher to put out his work out no matter how awful onto the market, even if it is self-aggrandizing ramblings that no one can relate to nor benefit from. So-called Gonzo journalism is mostly for those who couldn't write their way out of a paper bag. HST lost his touch about thirty years ago. Take him out of the oven, he's done.
Rating: 
Summary: -
Review: Thompson goes on/off, but is always an entertaining read.
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