Gonzo pioneer How to read Hunter S Thompson

In the early 1960s, Hunter S Thompson spent some time writing sports journalism for an obscure newspaper in Puerto Rico. His experiences formed the basis for a racy, boozy novel – written contemporaneously, though not published until 1993 – called The Rum Diaries. Bruce Robinson, director of the equally booze-drenched Withnail and I, has been trying to make a film of the novel for aeons.

Thompson’s career got off the ground after he returned from Puerto Rico and began writing the scabrous articles that would form the basis of the gonzo legend. The best of these pieces are compiled in The Great Shark Hunt. This essential volume describes debauchery at the Kentucky Derby and Thompson’s own attempts to become mayor of Aspen, but also contains considered pieces on racial politics and the “great leap of faith” that led him to support Jimmy Carter’s run for the White House.

Arguably the most disciplined and cohesive of Thompson’s books, Hell’s Angels details the author’s investigations into the Oakland biker gangs led by the still notorious Sonny Barger. The experience ended with the author getting a severe beating from the bikers.

Not quite a novel, not quite reportage, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has remained popular ever since its publication in 1971. The book recounts a journey to Las Vegas taken by the author (here renamed Raoul Duke) and attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta (Dr Gonzo). The first line? “We were somewhere outside Barstow when the drugs began to take hold.” Enough said.

In 1972, Rolling Stone magazine sent Thompson to cover that year’s presidential campaign. The resulting articles, compiled in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, find the author becoming increasingly appalled by Richard Nixon and increasingly admiring of George McGovern.

Nonetheless, when Nixon and Thompson briefly meet, they chat amiably about American football.