Hunter S. Thompson



Hunter S. Thompson is most commonly known for his creation of "Gonzo Journalism" a form of reporting where the author gets personally involved in his writing, often to the point that he becomes the main subject of his article. This style is both compelling and dangerous. Compelling because we, as readers get the opportunity to hear the story first hand, from the person who experienced. The style is dangerous both to the writer, and to reader. By becoming so involved in the subjects he wrote about, Thompson often became lost in his stories. As for the reader, the danger is the lack of hard facts and evidence, one is reading a story from a specific point of view, and the question becomes whether this story is truly journalism.

Thompson certainly was not an objective journalist, but focused more on feature writing; his readers knew, and often respected, his opinions. I choose him as my favorite journalist because he focuses on this type of writing. As a journalist I am often pulled toward feature news writing rather than "up-side-down pyramid" style, so I find that Thompson is someone I can learn from and find inspiration in. Thompson's personal struggles also serve as a warning sign to me and other writers: do not lose yourself in the culture you're reporting on.

Thompson's writing speaks to me for many reasons, but I think I especially enjoy the drama and tragedy of his stories. Thompson is a man betrayed by himself and his generation, and his writing is soaked with his regret. Although he continued to be a formidable commenter on politics and society up until his death in February 2005, I prefer his older works which focus on youth culture in the 1960s. His poignant, at times poetic, prose serve to draw the reader in, and truly demonstrate the mood of the time.



Writing Sample

San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world....There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

~Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas"