Abandon all hope: Going to the place where the going gets Weird

An examination of the life and works of Hunter S. Thompson

 

Matthew Clarke

            Hunter sits in a relaxed fashion; tongue darting in and out of his mouth like a chameleon. His eyes sharp but hidden behind his large aviator sunglasses. His arms flail excitedly expressing more than his mouth could as his words stay monotonous and almost inaudible. His clay moulded face breaks into a smile every so often as he responds to the topic of his book “The Proud Highway”, one of three collections to showcase over 20,000 letters sent and received in his lifetime. The interviewer, Charlie Rose, who is usually unanimated and lifeless, becomes a caricature of his normal self in Thompson’s presence. The interview is quickly established as a reminiscence of the writer’s interesting and subversive adventures. His influences and inspiration as well as early life is discussed and later the interview becomes a story telling as each man reads one of Thompson’s letters from the book. What becomes obvious from this interaction is that although both men are respected journalists, only one of them is a pop icon. Thompson’s written accounts of the strange and obscene have placed him into realms that most writers can only dream of, however, can these words suggest he has contributed anything significant to journalism, or have they been wasted on several generations of adolescent stoners and revivalist hippies?

            Hunter Thompson did not fit comfortably into society. If you believe his words, his “blood is too thick” (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1971) and he is constantly debating the physical and psychological effects of the Fear. His autobiographical book “Kingdom of Fear” proves that he did not have a conventional childhood (“listening to the radio and sipping whiskey with my father was the high point of my day, and I soon became addicted to these moments”), therefore his journalistic style would not make sense if it was attempting any conventional techniques. Everything must be “strange” and his emotional exploits often have something to do with his “fear and loathing” on the subject. The visceral and hyperbolic nature in which he wrote have often been cited as literary journalism and he developed his technique by copying “The Great Gatsby”, amongst others, word-for-word. His beginnings were rooted within journalism and sports reporting however he had completed two novels (“Prince Jellyfish” and “The Rum Diary”) before he was to be published and known for his particular brand of journalism.

            A desire to strengthen his journalism through literary techniques was shown in the 1965 article and subsequent book investigating the Hells Angels. His physical need for immersion followed suit to the popular New Journalism that developed during this time. Writers such as himself, George Plimpton, Joan Didion and Norman Mailer were exhibited in Tom Wolfe’s collection of “The New Journalism” in 1975. Among an excerpt from “Hells Angels”, Thompson submitted his coverage of the Kentucky Derby, written in 1970 and published in Scanlan’s Monthly:

“Look.” He tapped me on the arm to make sure I was listening. “I know this Derby crowd, I come here every year, and let me tell you one thing I’ve learned–this is no town to be giving people the impression you’re some kind of faggot. Not in public, anyway. Shit, they’ll roll you in a minute, knock you in the head and take every goddam cent you have.”

Thompson’s work was a perfect example of the New Journalism. The rules, which included a focus on dialogue, the third person, acknowledgement and criticism of status and a step-by-step approach to the story, were utilized in order to exaggerate his response to what was happening. However, a connection to the New Journalism ceased due to differences between styles. Thompson suggested that “unlike Tom Wolfe or Gay Talese, I almost never try to reconstruct a story. They’re both much better reporters than I am, but then, I don’t think of myself as a reporter” (Playboy, 1974) whereas Wolfe described Thompson’s work as “…part journalism and part personal memoir admixed with powers of wild invention and wilder rhetoric.”(New York Times, April 17 2005)  This style was labelled as “pure Gonzo” (Hirst, 2004, p.5) by Boston Globe reporter Bill Cardoso. The “gonzo” journalism which Thompson became informally known as the creator of would eventually form the basis for all of his major writing.

However, the idea of “gonzo” journalism has always been provisional. The essence of his “crazy/straight”(Jacket copy for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) form of journalism coming from the William Faulkner school of thought that “the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism — and the best journalists have always known this” (Ibid).  His report-cum-novel, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, has been praised as the ultimate example of the “gonzo” style. As one critic suggests, “it feels free-wheeling when you read it [but] it doesn’t feel accidental. The writing is right there, on the page — startling, unprecedented and brilliantly crafted.” (Rolling Stone, 24/03/2005, pp.44-47) The most critical analysis of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” has come from the author himself calling his work “a failed experiment in gonzo journalism”. The idea of “gonzo” journalism has only ever been associated with Thompson himself. Although there have countless imitators, it can be noted that Thompson is the only purveyor of genuine “gonzo” and there is uncertainty of what “gonzo” really is. This has left the question of whether this brand of journalism ever existed in its purest form wide open. 

It is through this confusion of what “gonzo” is and what it could be perceived to be where we can argue the nature of authenticity in Hunter Thompson’s work. For one, Thompson’s writing is designed to contain vernacular that goes beyond what is accepted in reporting. The facts are present and can be identified but they are separated by hyperbole and euphonious language. These words sound well when read aloud and are highly stylized. This is evidence of a writer who has established a writing style from constantly perfecting his form. This is documented in his obsessive letter-writing in “The Proud Highway” and various compilations of articles such as “The Great Shark Hunt”.  This is where Thompson’s work can be placed among that of the writers of the New Journalism. However, after his success with “Hells Angels” and his style progressed, works such as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” possessed “an essentially fictional framework” (Jacket copy from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”). The novel was written with a compressed timeline and events did not occur as they did in his writing. There is greater criticism for this fictionalization of the “true” in understanding the book’s events were compromised by copious drug and alcohol consumption. This covers a large part of the narrative and one can assume that facts are distorted because of it. If the events were not warped for this reason, it is fair to suggest that Thompson may not have been taking these drugs and the pages are filled with lies, and perhaps this is all a part of his fictionalized and euphonious style as it gives the author more ground to tread.

Then it seems this facet of authenticity is one worth exploring. Thompson’s fictionalization of events contributed to his disbandment with New Journalism and a search for the purification of “gonzo” journalism had begun. However, according to the author himself, the work was subject to numerous edits and revisions and was no longer the brand of journalism he set out to deliver, but merely a well-written and fictionalized account of the events that he may or may not have fully experienced. This could be explained with the idea of identity within the New Journalism crowd. Tom Wolfe is not only a writer but now (and during the advent of New Journalism) a media personality. As a personality, his style is as important as his work. He is known for wearing a white suit and is quoted as suggesting this suit and his mannerisms have become a trademark that creates the image of a “man from mars, the man who didn’t know anything and was eager to know” (Sydney Morning Herald, 18/12/2004). This “identity” which Wolfe had created for himself can be named as part of his success in immersing himself into his reporting. It is this importance of an “identity” in New Journalism which could suggest Thompson’s need for his own trademarks. These can be recognized as his clothes (sun visor, sunglasses, and Hawaiian shirts) and his excessive nature (drugs, alcohol, and firearms). These signifiers are shown to us, the spectator, and in turn these are added with his supposedly “gonzo” works and an “identity” is created.

However, this notion of authenticity belongs to an opposing school of thought. Thompson’s work has often been compared to that of the writers of the “Beat” generation; predominately Kerouac and Burroughs. Where those particular writers had experimented during the 50’s and 60’s, the “Beat” style was famous for divulging in free-expressionism and shaping the story with free-form narrative and fiction with auto-biographical elements. It could be argued that Raoul Duke, Thompson’s alias in the book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” was created in a similar vein to that of Sal Paradise, a character that shares many of the same experiences that Kerouac had in “On the Road”. This style of writing was also influenced and shaped by the consumption of illegal substances. It has often been documented of Kerouac’s Benzedrine addiction during the three weeks that “On the Road” was written and the warped narrative form that “Naked Lunch” was created by Burroughs’s fascination with heroin and other drugs. These writers praised the time they were living in by celebrating the coffee house hedonism, whereas Thompson’s work mourns this era and his visceral words have the power to rebel against the system (i.e. Nixon’s regime) and wish for an America similar to that of the “Beat” generation. This bereavement of a bygone era is encapsulated in a poetic narrative and can be read in a passage from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”:

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. 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—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

            Further evidence of Thompson’s striving for authenticity comes from the continued association of the “Beat” artists, who were in turn, fascinated with existentialism and the works of Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre, who wrote extensively on the emergence of intelligence in the age of the “death of God” (The Gay Science, Section 108), could be seen as a major influence on Thompson’s personality and creation of his “identity”. The idea of nothingness and humanity is often debated as is the power of good and bad faith. The importance of these theories in conjunction with the influence on Thompson’s writing comes from the dramatization of these ideas. Sartre’s play, “No Exit” or “Huis-clos”, concerns itself with Hell as a physical place.  The centre-point of the play focuses on the revelation that Hell is not as one-dimensional as it is made out but personified through the emotions and actions of other people:

“So this is hell. I’d never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the “burning marl.” Old wives’ tales! There’s no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS – OTHER PEOPLE!”

            As a play, “No Exit” examines the effects that Hell has on its inhabitants. Sartre suggests that once you end up in Hell, there is no need to hide behind a false identity and the truth does not need to be hidden. The idea of authenticity is relevant in Hell because the punishment is already taking place. This literate dramatization of Hell may be familiar to those who have read Thompson’s work. His book “Generation of Swine” states that “if there is, in fact, a Heaven and a Hell, all we know for sure is that Hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix…” Diminishing the cynicism from this quotation, it could be derived from the hyperbole and euphonious language (that he shared with writers such as Milton and Dostoyevsky) that Thompson believed that Hell was in fact “real” and he was living in it. A further suggestion could be made that his suicide was his escape from all that he deemed was “Hell”. He includes the line “No more Games. No more Bombs. No more Walking. No more Fun. No more Swimming” in his suicide note. He also made references to the current Presidency and noted how he didn’t want to live through it twice. However, it has also been quoted by artist Ralph Steadman that Thompson felt “real trapped if he didn’t know that he could commit suicide at any moment. I don’t know if that is brave or stupid or what, but it was inevitable.” (“Hunter S. Thompson 1938-2005”, 19/03/2005) This idea adds to the “identity” of Hunter Thompson as a self-enclosed nihilist. He often spoke of paranoia and the Fear and its demands on a person. With his suicide, Thompson made any facts of himself disappear as only his “identity” would remain.

 

            Thompson’s “identity” which I am dissecting is one that draws directly (if not completely) from the idea of choice and free-will, another existentialist quality which is apparent in the role of an “Outsider” or the “Stranger”. The “Outsider” is that of a person who feels obligated to create his or hers own path and not consider that of one chosen. This role is derived from the work of Albert Camus and in turn has become a feature within the existentialist philosophy. The idea of self control and the dismissal of destiny is one that can be found within Thompson’s own writing, however, the idea of the “Outsider” is no longer as viable as it was when Camus labeled it so. With its submersion into popular culture, the “Outsider” has now become cliché. Its overuse became acknowledged in the 1960’s with novels such as “Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger and “Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. The “Outsider” itself is one of tradition as was popularly used in the work of Dostoyevsky and popularized by the work of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

 

            This notion of Thompson as an “Outsider” would make sense if it wasn’t for his connection with the New Journalism. Where the New Journalism derives from excess and wanting more to benefit from, the “Beat” artists such as Kerouac were more interested in distortion and finding their own limits and “kicks”. Truman Capote, who was amongst those writing New Journalism as well as fiction, said that “On the Road” was more typing than writing. However, another important point to make about the “identity” which Thompson had created for himself was that of his Darwinist behaviour. By choosing his own path and dismissing the notion of destiny, he rightfully acknowledged the idea of the survival of the fittest that Darwin examined in his book “On the Origin of Species”. The culmination of this belief within Thompson’s identity could suggest of his own elitism when it came to movements, philosophies and groupings within his professional work.

 

            Oddly, it could be deemed only possible through the 20^th and 21^st centuries that a man such as Hunter Thompson would become a pop icon. His work has been adapted into films and his legacy (as well as his death) has become well documented. However, the “identity” he created for himself is riddled with contradiction. The negative connotations this may have can be easily discarded by his own “celebrity” which, in turn, is part of his own “identity”. This can be seen through the feature documentaries on his life such as the O’Farrell Brother’s “The Crazy Never Die”(1988), Wayne Ewing’s “Breakfast With Hunter”(2003) and Alex Gibney’s “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson”(2008).  Thompson is shown at varying points of his life in these various films. He is at his most lucid and crazy in the 1978 film “Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood” during the age of the birth of “gonzo”, yet he is seen as his most caring and humanitarian in documentaries made with Thompson in later life such as “When I Die”(2005) and “Free Lisl: Fear and Loathing in Denver”(2007). These portraits of Thompson show what his strengths were, such as his strong relationship with his audiences. He is also documented as an overwhelming supporter of free speech which could determine his status as a “voice of the people” but his strong right wing tendencies with gun control and his self empowerment with politics would suggest elitist behaviour. His political views have been greatly expressed further with an essay “The Battle of Aspen” which details Thompson’s political career as he contended as the Sherriff of Pitkin County in 1970 and the full-length “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72” which followed the candidates for President as well as his own exploits in Washington D.C.

 

            In fact, it is Thompson’s immersion in his work which has made his “identity” so popular. If you were to ask a reader of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to give a plot summary they would suggest it was about a weekend where two men become corrupted on drugs and cause havoc. It is Thompson himself who becomes the story, and his “identity” is placed in front of whatever story he is covering. Thompson has become a cartoon character, his “identity” and professionalism has been imprinted on celebrity culture just as Che Guevara and his revolution has. This popularity has only increased due to the success and cult status that the “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” has attained and the fact he has been portrayed by both Johnny Depp and Bill Murray (in “Where the Buffalo Roam”). His words are quoted in speeches and have become slogans. This has happened with the absence of any evidence suggesting a formal “gonzo” brand of journalism and any real connections Thompson may have had with any group or organisation. The term “gonzo” is now only barely affiliated with the work Thompson left behind and represents the title of a MTV talk show and specific genre within pornography. His work as a journalist is less significant than that of his exploits and celebrity status, however, this makes his work so influential and therefore he can be seen as making a lasting contribution to the contemporary world, even though the effects cannot be entirely positive.

 

Bibliography

 

(1997). The Charlie Rose Show: 44 mins.

 

Burroughs, W. S. (1959). Naked Lunch. Paris, Olympia Press.

           

Camus, A. (1942). The Stranger, Libraire Gallimard.

 

Capote, T. (1966). In Cold Blood, Vintage.

           

Cohen, R. (2005). Gonzo Nights. The New York Times.

 

Darwin, C. (1859). On the Origin of Species, John Murray.

 

Ewing, W. (2003). Breakfast with Hunter: 91 mins.

           

Ewing, W. (2005). When I Die, 90 mins.

           

Ewing, W. (2007). Free Lisl!: 80 mins

 

Freeman, J. (2004) “In Wolfe’s clothing”, The Sydney Morning Herald

 

Gibney, A. (2008). Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson: 118 mins.

           

Gilliam, T. (1998). Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: 118 mins.

           

Gilmore, M. (2005). “The Last Outlaw.” Rolling Stone(970): 44-47.

           

Kerouac, J. (1957 ). On the Road, Viking Press, Inc.

 

Linson, A. (1980). Where The Buffalo Roam: 100 mins.

           

Salinger, J. D. (1958 ). The Catcher in the Rye, Penguin Books.

           

Sartre, J.-P. (1938). La Nausee, Éditions Gallimard.

           

Sartre, J.-P. (1944). Huis-clos.

           

Taylor, A. (1997). The city: In search of Thompson’s Vegas. Las Vegas Sun.

 

Thompson, H. S. (1965). “Motorcycle Gangs: Losers and Outsiders.” The Nation 200(20): 522-525.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1966). Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, Random House

           

Thompson, H. S. (1970). “Freak Power in the Rockies.” Rolling Stone(67): 30-37.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1970). “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.” Scanlan’s Monthly 1(4): 1-12.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1971). Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, Random House.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1973). Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72. San Francisco, Straight Arrow Books.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1979). The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time, Summit Books.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1988). Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degredation in the ’80s, Summit Books.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1997). The Proud Highway: The Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman 1955-1967, Random House.

           

Thompson, H. S. (1998). The Rum Diary, Simon and Schuster.

           

Thompson, H. S. (2003). Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century, Simon and Schuster.

                       

Toole, J. K. (1980). A Confederacy of Dunces, Louisiana State University Press.

           

Wolfe, T. and E. Johnson, Eds. (1975). The New Journalism Picador Books.