Savage Journey

Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo

By: Peter Richardson

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Savage Journey is a "supremely crafted" study of Hunter S. Thompson's literary formation and achievement. Focusing on Thompson's influences, development, and unique model of authorship, Savage Journey argues that his literary formation was largely a San Francisco story. During the 1960s, Thompson rode with the Hell's Angels, explored the San Francisco counterculture, and met talented editors who shared his dissatisfaction with mainstream journalism. Author Peter Richardson traces Thompson's transition during this time from New Journalist to cofounder of Gonzo journalism. He also endorses Thompson's later claim that he was one of the best writers using the English language as both a musical instrument and a political weapon.

Fifty years after the publication of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and more than a decade after his death, Thompson's celebrity continues to obscure his literary achievement. This book refocuses our understanding of that achievement by mapping Thompson's influences, probing the development of his signature style, and tracing the reception of his major works. It concludes that Thompson was not only a gifted journalist, satirist, and media critic, but also the most distinctive American voice in the second half of the twentieth century.

©2022 Peter Richardson (P)2022 Tantor

It was read greatly and gave a different perspective of Hunter

Everything was great about the narration. But there were weird and random mistakes in the book. The author was also biased against Donald Trump. No one knows what Hunter would have said today. Other than that it’s great.

This book sucks. It really actually sucks.

Why bring recent politics into a book about someone dead almost 2 decades? Why? Isn't the book about HST?