Tag: Gonzo journalism

2,415 words

No sooner had my epic seven-part series on Hunter S. Thompson, “Father of Fake News,” wrapped up — well, maybe a few months later — than Miles Mathis, the doyen of online conspiracy research, turned his gimlet eyes onto the same hapless subject in “Hunter S. Thompson: Spook Baby.”

Cazart! Was this another conspiracy? Synchronicity? Or just a coincidence? (Sure, that’s exactly what They’d want you to believe). (more…)

2,388 words

Part 7 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 6 here)

7. Final Wisdom: The Truth Was Not in Him!

“We’d be fools not to ride this strange torpedo to the end!” (more…)

5,490 words

Part 6 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)

6. Gonzo: Paleocon, Neocon, or Just Con?

I had just begun to doubt some of my strongest convictions when I stumbled upon [Colin Wilson’s The Outsider]. But rather than being wrong, I think that I just don’t express my rightness correctly. — Hunter S. Thompson (more…)

1,621 words

Part 5 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 4 here, Part 6 here)

5. Gonzo is the Secret: The Power of Positive Gonzo

Constant Readers will know that I love to find me some traces of Neville in any iconic figure, and sure enough, it turns out there’s plenty of it here. (more…)

Thompson when he was running for Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado in 1970.

3,735 words

Part 4 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here, Part 5 here)

4. Father of Fake News – or OT (Original Troll)? . . . The Myth of the Golfing Douchebag

I have discovered the secret of writing fiction, calling it impressionistic journalism, and selling it to people who want “something fresh.” — Hunter S. Thompson

Any man who still has a residue of honor will be very careful not to become a journalist. — Dr. Josef Goebbels (more…)

Hunter passed out drunk while covering an event as a journalist circa 1960.

7,043 words

Part 3 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here)

3. Gonzo: What Happened? — Decline and Fall of Gonzo

As Thompson charts Hemingway’s road from literary brilliance to failure and suicide, he maps out his own path for the future. (more…)

Hunter S. Thompson during his time in the Air Force.

3,360 words

Part 2 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here)

2. What is Gonzo? — High White Notes

“It has finally come home to me that I am not going to be either the Fitzgerald or the Hemingway of this generation . . . I am going to be the Thompson of this generation, and that makes me more nervous than anything else I can think of.” (more…)

3,214 words

Part 1 of 7 (Part 2 here)

David S. Wills
High White Notes: The Rise and Fall of Gonzo Journalism
St. Andrews: Beatdom Books, 2021

“He’s a drunk and he’s a doper who has got a style which is very dangerous for journalism students to pick up on.” — Harlan Ellison, 1979[1]

David Wills comes not to bury Hunter Thompson, but to praise him; ultimately, he does a pretty good job of both. (more…)