Gonzo: The Life Of Hunter S. Thompson (Jann Wenner and Corey Seymour)

Gonzo is an oral biography about Hunter Stockton Thompson, the journalist and author. The book is a collection of quotes by friends, family, editors, fellow journalists, former presidents, hells angles members, actors and artist who knew Thompson from his childhood up until his suicide in 2005. This is by far one of the best books available, and I'm sure anyone reading this had heard that in almost every book review ever written, but this is honestly an amazing book. The oral biography format is far superior to any one person sitting down, collecting information, and writing because it gives the reader different views into who Hunter S. Thompson really was. It follows him in every step of his life giving in depth detail on the personality of one of America's most influential journalists of all time. From a somewhat troublesome young boy in Louisville, Kentucky to a freelance journalist for the, at the time, small "Rolling Stone" Magazine in New York, to the heart of the Hells Angles biker gang, to Las Vegas, Aspen (or Fat City) Colorado, the Nixon vs. McGovern campaign trail, Zaire, Vietnam, Hawaii and the Florida Keys Hunter S. Thompson was known, loved, feared and loathed by everyone he met. Through this book we can follow Thompson through 3 marriages and 67 years of drug and alcohol use and abuse and see the controversial writer evolve from a man on the edge to the full blown Gonzo version of Thompson, Raoul Duke.

Since the book was an Oral Biography the type of language used changes from speaker to speaker and is very casual but informative. It is very much like an interview transcript with hundreds of people proving to be extremely effective. Hunter S. Thompson was a user of almost every drug except for heroin seeing as he "didn't like needles", so the issue of drug and alcohol use is mentioned in almost every speakers paragraph or paragraphs. There really isn't anything that the authors could have done to improve the book because it is the most accurate, informative biography I have ever read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. You don't even have to know anything about Hunter S. Thompson to enjoy this book. There really are no rhetorical devices in this book because it wasn't written it was spoken BUT! After much searching I have found one in the introduction to the book by Johnny Depp. "I have millions of visions of him seared into my brain..." This adds to the book by giving an impression that Hunter S. Thompson is an undying creature that will live forever, seared into Johnny Depp's Brain.