Hunter S. Tompson and Gonzo Journalism
In the late sixties a young journalist and free-lance novelist named Hunter S. Thompson (HST) emerged with a new, crazed and exaggerated brand of reporting. It was sooner or later referred to as “Gonzo”. HST’s own definition of gonzo has varied over the years, but he still maintains that a good gonzo journalist “needs the talent of a master journalist, the eye of an artist/photographer and the heavy balls of an actor” and that gonzo is a “style of reporting based on William Faulkner’s idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism”(Carroll, page 192). Gonzo journalism has also been referred to as outlaw journalism, new journalism, alternative journalism, literary cubism, and other words better not repeated here. With such high profile stages for his writings in Rolling Stone Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire and Vanity Fair, HST has proven that his exaggerated gonzo journalism is as relevant (or even more so) than that of conventional journalists. In this essay, the concept and development of gonzo journalism and its relevance to media and reporting will be thoroughly explored.
Dr Hunter S. Thompson is a man of great wit and charisma. He is 6’2” tall, and, due to the fact that one leg is longer than the other, he tends to bob back and forth. He is apparently always thirsty, and his favorite drinks are known to be Wild Turkey and Chivas Regal. Besides being a writer and failed politician, HST is also a collector of peacocks and guns. HST is also happily divorced with one son, Juan. Dr Thompson’s journalism career began in the daily columns of small town newspapers, but because of differences in personality, opinion and style, he did...
... middle of paper ...
...elevant as any other anchorman’s daily news report.
Bibliography
Carrol, Jean E. Hunter: The Strange and Savage life of Hunter S. Thompson.
New York: Plume, 1993
Thompson, Hunter S. The Great Shark Hunt.
New York: Fawcett Popular Library, 1980
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. New York: Vintage Books, July 1989
Thompson, Hunter S. Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream. New York: Summit, 1990
Thompson, Hunter S. Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie.
New York: Ballantine, 1994
Thompson, Hunter S. Generation Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the ‘80’s.
New York: Summit, 1988
Thompson, Hunter S. The Curse of Lono.
New York: Bantam, 1983
Wolfe, Tom: The New Journalism.
New York: Harper & Row, 1973
The day is unlike any other. The mail has come and lying at the bottom of the stack is the favored Outside magazine. The headline reads, “Exclusive Report: Lost in the Wild.” The cover speaks of a twenty four year old boy who “walked off into America’s Last Frontier hoping to make sense of his life.” The monotony of the ordinary day has now vanished from thought as Jon Krakauer’s captivating article runs through the mind like gasoline to an engine. The article is not soon forgotten, and the book Into the Wild is happened upon three years later. The book relates the full story of Christopher Johnson McCandless and how he left his family and friends after graduating college in order to find himself. Krakauer based the book off of his article on McCandless that was printed in January of 1993. From the time of writing the article to the printing of Into the Wild, Krakauer was obsessed with the tale of the boy who rid himself of society and later turned up dead in the Alaskan frontier. In the foreword of Into the Wild, Krakauer describes McCandless as “an extremely intense young man [who] possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence” and who was in deed searching for a “raw, transcendent experience” (i-ii). Krakauer is correct in assessing this conclusion about McCandless. This conclusion is seen throughout the book in many different assessments. Krakauer uses logical appeal, a comparison to his own life, and assumption to bring about his assessment of McCandless’ life.
...a working class man, but nothing to show for his labor. “There’s no one left to see his hands lifting from the engine bay, dark and gnarled as roots dipping river mud [and] how my father drags his body into a beat-up van and gropes for the ignition” (66-67). As a reader, although I see the struggle, I find no comfort at the end, because there is no reward. My favorite in this section is “Former Future King.” This poem perfectly captures the elusiveness of the American dream which is like sitting “on a bench in front of the crown you ought to have worn, which reside on a pillow, in a locked glass box, in the furthest wing” (71). It shows the disappointment that comes with an unfulfilled dream.
Boynton, Robert S. (1997). Jonathan Harr. The New New Journalism: Conversations with America’s Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft. Retrieved from http://newnewjournalism.com/bio.php?last_name=harr
HTS revolutionized modern journalism with a style all his own. He evolved a new style of journalism called “Gonzo” journalism. This bold and brazen style of journalism is the telling of the blatant truth with no thought of consequence. According to Thompson "The true Gonzo reporter needs the talent of a master journalist, the eye of an artist/photographer and the heavy balls of an actor.” A gonzo journalist does not proofread his work, because that would take away from the spontaneous of the event. A Gonzo journalist will witness an event, and either at the time of it, or shortly thereafter completely write about it. When written at an event, "The reporter works his fingers to bloody nubs trying to capture all that is happening around him, and then sends it off to the editor without a second look.”
Through many creative forms of literature one can see how authors such as John Cheever, Louise Erdrich, and John Updike present a variety of views on American Life. It is through short stories like “The Swimmer”, “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” and “A&P” that authors put forth examples of how the American Dream means different things to different people. American politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” Thanks to these stories it is possible to see how the American Dream is viewed and how the idea of freedom in this country affect people from all sorts of backgrounds. It could be argued that each story shows a struggle either while being at the pinnacle of success in terms of reaching the American Dream or while attempting to feel a sense of freedom within such a promising country. This is seen through Neddy’s struggle to get his life together after being hyper focused on artificial possessions that the American Dream often romanticizes, through the Native American narrator in “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” struggling to accommodate and resist his displeasure with society via reckless behavior, and the group of girls in the A&P store who are displeased with Lengel’s remark on their attire or lack thereof.
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. New York: Vintage, 1971.
The American Dream has long been thought the pinnacle idea of American society. The idea that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or financial status, could rise from the depths and become anything they wanted to be with no more than hard work and determination has attracted people from all around the world. Two writers from America’s past, however, have a different opinion on the once-great American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck have given the public their beliefs on the modern Dream through the novels they have written, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men, respectively. One novel placed during the Great Depression and the other during the Roaring Twenties both illustrate how their author feels about the Dream itself through the use of many literary devices. While both novels have main characters with hopes for something better, all the characters seem to fall into the same plagued pit. Through depravity and decadence, the American Dream seems to have become exactly what its name implies: A dream, not a reality.
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.
... American Dream that was sold in society at the time after World War II can overshadow the actual meaning in real life. The “American Dream” is, in the end, defined as a comfortable living in a happy house. Instead, the materialistic society back then attempted to sell it in terms of appliances and products that were not needed, and unaffordable. They marketed it to the middle-class by attracting them to the aspect of credit, buying it with money that they don’t have. As Willy’s neighbor claimed at his funeral, Willy was merely a victim of his profession, leaving him with an unhealthy obsession with an image that was unrealistic, especially for them. This dissatisfaction with his life, and his misinterpretation of the “American Dream”, led to his downfall as a tragic hero, and a death that went in vain, as his son failed to follow the plan he had laid out for him.
Hargreaves, Steve. "The myth of the American Dream." CNNMoney. CNN, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 April, 2014.
Tucher, Andie. "Thompson, Hunter S."; American National Biography Online Feb. 2000. Web. Thu Nov 28 2013
Tran, Lynda. "Losing the 'American Dream'." USNEWS.com. N.P., 13 May 2013. Web. 12 Mar 2014. .
The conception of the American Dream has since long been distorted and the principals have undergone, as John E. Nestler depicts it in his essay “The American Dream”, “a metamorphosis” from the basic idea of freedom and equality to materialistic and individualistic ambitions, which would constitute “a sign of moral decay”. In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses the character Walter Lee Younger to illustrate the distorted interpretation of the American dream and its consequent adverse effects. Walter grew up in a time, when money would apparently reign the world and be the center of attention a...
The American Dream has always been synonymous with family, financial stability, and a well-kept home. However, following WWII, the traditional American Dream has shifted to encompass a new set of ideals from those forced to deal with the consequences of a rise of suburbanization, the mediocre man’s interpretation of the American Dream. With suburbanization comes a comfortable mass-built house, a comfortable income, and 2.5 children, but for many people, this new American Dream became more of a nightmare. In her 1962 song “Little Boxes,” folk singer, Malvina Reynolds, delivers a sharp critique of the new bourgeois in post-WWII America who chose to embrace conformity and its acceptance of the new standard for the American Dream and “all look
Evensvold, Marty D. "The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation." Library Journal Dec. 2001: 200. General OneFile. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.