It will be interesting
(for me) to see how this plays out. In my head it's about 400
pages of delightful insight, but of course I seldom have the
discipline, or even the ability to do anything longer than 300 words
before miasma sets it. Where was I? Oh, right, Fear
and loathing and NPR. I've spent the last two three hours (so far) using Mark Judge's essay as a springboard
into reflections of something personal.
Okay, I just got coffee and realized I'm petering out so I have
to do this stream of consciousness stopping only for periods and spell
checks.
| “
|
Thompson
seemed just the man to establish a truly “adversary” relationship with
the Presidential candidates. In December 1971, he was dispatched to
Washington to open a Rolling Stone office and to turn his violent,
satirical, epithet-studded style on the men in the Democratic
primaries. I also worked for Rolling Stone, and they sent me out to
write the serious backup pieces, keep Thompson out of trouble, and
carry the bail bond money. [...]
Thompson had loaned his press card to a freak, who
had run amuck
aboard Muskie’s whistle-stop train, insulting reporters and heckling
the candidate when he tried to speak at the final stop in Miami. Many
of the reporters, seeing only the badge on the freak’s lapel, had taken
him for Hunter S. Thompson of Rolling Stone. In the article, Thompson
explained the mistake but revelled in its consequences. The piece was a
big hit with the press corps, and they soon began to read him
regularly. [Boys on the Bus Notes]
|
” |
The quotes from Boys on the Bus (1968)
have more to do with Hunter S. Thompson than with author Timothy Crouse
because I remembered Hunter as being the author when he in fact only wrote
the forward.. I realized, perhaps not for the first time,
that this book (Bus) had more influence on me than any book after Theodore White's Making
of the President 1960. The bullet observation being
that, after watching White become rich and famous by dissecting the
1960 election, while they stuck with the five W's, these
journalists he traveled with had stopped being journalists and
were now explainers.
[Clip]
Along with Truman Capote's In
Cold Blood, Thompson's Hell's
Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. are the two best investigative
books ever written. I don't have a copy to quote from, but from
memory the essence of liberal America was captured in his account of
a soirée held by Manhattan liberals, with the Angels brought in
like some exotic furniture. Here, an Angel, possibly Sonny
Barger, wearing his piss, booze and sweat soaked vest, is drinking beer
from a long-neck, conversing with a middle aged woman draped in a silk
gown and sipping Chablis. Barger listens politely while she
prattles on about the the cause this shindig is nominally being held to
support, before finally interrupting her:
Do you know what you need?
Startled matron:
What?
Someone to eat your
pussy! [ ... the woman later contacted him]
[397 pages clipped here]
But the real epiphany came from understanding what "Gonzo journalism,"
means. I never really knew.
| “
|
Gonzo journalism tends to favor style over accuracy and often uses
personal experiences and emotions to provide context for the topic or
event being covered. It disregards the 'polished' edited product
favored by newspaper media and strives for a more gritty approach. Use
of quotations, sarcasm, humor,
exaggeration, and profanity is common. |
” |
" style over accuracy"
HFS, I'm a Gonzo Blogger! I just need to start drinking earlier.
|
