Theodore Roszak Archive at Stanford University

I had a blast at the opening of Theodore Roszak's archive at Stanford University. Kathryn Roszak helped us understand her father and his achievement. Betty Roszak was there, so we also had a chance to honor her and her work. Archivist Ben Stone, who put the whole thing together, displayed a cool sampling of Roszak's output and personal papers. J. Christian Greer brought students from his class, "Holy Hipsters: Spiritual Rebellion and Hip Consumerism in Postwar America." And we had a tasty dinner afterward where I met some of Kathryn's friends, two of whom were John Perry Barlow's friends and business partners. More days like this, please.

Review of Dave Zirin's "Behind the Shield"

Fanatical readers of this blog know I have a high regard for Dave Zirin and his work. Important stuff, if you ask me.

I reviewed his recent documentary film for ScheerPost. It's called Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL.

As I note in the review, Dave has been writing about the NFL for two decades, but this film is something of a culmination. Highly recommended.

Ill Literacy Podcast

This podcast might have set an endurance record for gabbing about Hunter Thompson.

Sonny Barger Dies at 83

Sonny Barger and Hunter Thompson parted on bad terms, but their relatively short time together benefited both men. Barger might think otherwise, but his death at age 83 wouldn't have generated national headlines if it weren't for Thompson's 1967 bestselling book about the Hell's Angels.

Newsweek Podcast with Jack Sonni

Had a nice chat about Hunter Thompson with Jack Sonni on his Newsweek podcast. I always relish the chance to go deeper with an aficionado. Jack is certainly one of those, but he's probably even more famous for his guitar work with Dire Straits.

CBS News with Nicole Killion

CBS News streamed my brief chat with Nicole Killion about Hunter Thompson. I had COVID and was a little spaced out, but I wanted to focus on Thompson's literary formation, not on his myth or persona. The Gonzo formula was a winner, but these days I'm more drawn to the struggling writer than to the swaggering party animal.

Bay Area Book Festival with Sam Quinones

The Bay Area Book Festival took place last weekend in Berkeley. It was the festival's first face-to-face event in three years. I assembled and moderated many panels in the early years, and I think I'm officially still on the program committee, so this event has always meant a lot to me.

This year I was on the talent side of the equation. I chatted about Hunter Thompson with Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland and The Least of Us. Dreamland, which I reviewed for The National Memo, won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2015. It's an incredible tour de force on an urgent topic--the opioid crisis. I've known Sam for years, but I'm also a huge admirer, so I was delighted he could appear with me.

Our conversation was wide-ranging, but this was the first time I've discussed Thompson with someone like Sam, who has been documenting the ravages of drug abuse. As he pointed out, Thompson's drug use seemed funny in the 1970s, but there's nothing remotely amusing about what's happening on the streets now.

Washington Post Magazine Story

Jason Vest looked me up for a piece he wrote for The Washington Post Magazine. It appeared online a few days ago but is scheduled for Sunday's newspaper. It focuses on Hunter Thompson's campaign reporting in 1972, which is a remarkable chapter in his life. It's the 50th anniversary of that campaign, which always helps with this kind of story.

Jason also found Timothy Crouse, Thompson's Rolling Stone colleague on the campaign trail and author of The Boys on the Bus. Crouse has been out of journalism for some time, but that book holds up remarkably well. I felt I was in good company there.

Jason and I had a lot of fun swapping insights, so I was especially pleased that his story went over well. Many old colleagues saw it and contacted him, and CBS Morning News quickly reached out to UC Press about an author interview. We'll see what happens there.

As it turns out, NBC/Peacock also will interview me next week for a series on the Zodiac killer. Evidently, the production company heard my dulcet tones on the Monster podcast a while back. This interview will take place in Vallejo, where some of the murders occurred.

C-SPAN Airs My Chat with David Talbot

Not sure how I missed this program, or that I was properly lit. (Take that as you will.) But I was delighted to appear on C-SPAN's "Book TV" with David Talbot and Peter Maravelis. Thanks to City Lights for hosting this event way back in January. In fact, this was the book's official launch.

Let's take these things one at a time.

First, what an honor to appear on C-SPAN. I think someone there might be a Thompson fan because the station also featured Timothy Denevi and Juan Thompson in recent years.

Second, what a privilege to appear with David Talbot. He wrote (among other things) the bestselling Season of the Witch about San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s. He also crossed paths with Thompson at the San Francisco Examiner. As this program shows, he's a Thompson aficionado and a skilled interviewer. I can vouch that he's also an all-around good guy, and I'm so glad he has returned to form.

Third, how cool that City Lights was the host. Over and above my affection for that San Francisco shrine, there's the magnetic attraction that drew Thompson to San Francisco in the first place. You can't understand that attraction without City Lights and its history.

Savage Journey Podcast With Janna Lopez

This interview was special. As a writing coach, Janna took our conversation to a new and interesting place. I enjoyed the chance to discuss Hunter Thompson, the book, the craft of writing, and the stubborn itch to say something about our own experience.

Savage Journey Chat at Mechanics Institute

I was pleased to talk about Hunter Thompson and Savage Journey at the Mechanics Institute. Love their mission, delighted that Taryn invited me, and Matthew did a superb job. Great opportunity to go a little deeper.

The Star-Crossed Documentary

A few years ago, I was asked to help with a documentary film about Hunter S. Thompson. There was a long telephone call about his life and work. Then I was asked to read the proposal, which didn't mention me. I said I usually received an honorarium to evaluate works-in-progress, including ones I helped conceptualize. Crickets after that.

The film was never made, and today I learned the back story from a podcast called The Failed Pitch. It features doc ideas this fellow never got across the finish line. The HST episode consists of him and an all-purpose historian mixing facts and errors (not really fiction) for 43 minutes.

My favorite part is when the doc guy says he wanted the result to resemble ESPN's 30 for 30. Seems he didn't know there already was a 30 for 30 episode about HST at the Kentucky Derby.

Cheap is one thing, lazy is another. The combination should ensure that "The Failed Pitch" has plenty of fresh material.

Daniel de Visé on "Savage Journey"

I appreciated this review of Savage Journey, which appeared in the Washington Indepedent Review of Books. Daniel de Visé zeroes in on the major themes and claims, and he ends with this:

Someone close to Thompson told me recently that she never reads books about him because they are largely populated with “people making up theories” about someone they barely knew. Savage Journey wisely focuses on the man’s work, which speaks for itself. It’s a good read.

Exactly right about my intention here. We already have the Thompson biographies; this one is about the work--and how he managed to produce it.

Charles Bukowski's "Post Office" at 50

I wrote an essay about Charles Bukowski's Post Office for the Los Angeles Review of Books. Don't let the squalor fool you; this novel is about the good life, Bukowski style. It also illustrates Mike Davis's point in City of Quartz (1990) that Los Angeles "has come to play the double role of utopia and dystopia for advanced capitalism.”

TLS Brief Review of Savage Journey

Grateful for the short, sweet review by Matt Sturrock in the Times Literary Supplement. This one is so short I've included it below.

Does Hunter S. Thompson still deserve his elevated place in American letters? It is difficult to think of a popular author who, were he still alive, would be more vulnerable to censure. He was, after all, a man whose language often erupted into racist or homophobic abuse. Forget about micro-aggressions: even a placid Thompson might make a “jocular threat of physical violence,” while in more agitated moments, he might fire a gun at friends or associates. The publisher Ian Ballantine recalls visiting Thompson at home in the mid-1960s to haggle over paperback rights, and watching him interrupt negotiations to beat his first wife, Sandy, in another room.

It is lurid stuff, part of what was once the Gonzo writer’s danger-exuding persona, but to Peter Richardson, it is also a distraction. His study’s stated aim is “to take Thompson seriously as a writer.” What interests him most is the formation of a talent, and to that end he is quick to identify the qualities Thompson so esteemed in his literary antecedents, such as Henry Miller’s iconoclasm, or the fierceness of H. L. Mencken’s invective. (Jack Kerouac is derided as “a mystic boob.”) Tracing a course from Thompson’s childhood as a literate delinquent to his halting early career, to defining publications such as Hell’s Angels and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Richardson shows how his subject came to work “the crease between fiction and journalism.” What becomes evident is how much of Thompson’s success was owed to his persevering editors, who cobbled their star’s written fragments into a readable whole, and how quickly his success peaked. His output was already slowing by the mid-1970s. Richardson attributes the decline to two causes: Thompson’s switch from Dexedrine to cocaine as his drug of choice, and the resignation of Richard Nixon, both nemesis and muse.

As a study of writerly evolution, Savage Journey provides sober and well-documented analysis--a necessary counterbalance to Thompson’s sometimes histrionic self-assessments. Richardson remains admirably ambivalent about his subject, troubled by facets of the man himself, but enthralled by the “virtuosity” of “the most distinctive American voice in the second half of the twentieth century.” It is an honest and mature evaluation, a recognition that the turbulent energy that allowed Thompson to transform the genres he worked in also made him a confounding and unpleasant human being.

Wall Street Journal Review of "Savage Journey"

I was gratified to see Benjamin Shull's review of Savage Journey in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. I can't recall any reviews of my previous work there, so this one was especially welcome.

Hunter Thompson Chatter at The Nation Podcast and Copperfield's

Delighted to chat about Hunter Thompson with Jon Wiener on The Nation magazine's podcast, "Start Making Sense." John Nichols is the guest for the first 20 minutes, then Jon and I bring it home.

I had a chance to stretch out a bit more during my online talk hosted by Copperfield's, the North Bay book chain. Jamie Madsen hosted that one, which is on YouTube. I included ten images to put across some helpful visual information. Also to offer the audience an alternative to my mug.

As always, grateful to my hosts and all who took the time to listen.

Larry McMurtry and Lonesome Dove

I'm rereading Larry McMurtry's Literary Life. I forgot that the Lonesome Dove Baptist Church in Ponder, TX, furnished the title for his most famous novel. He saw its sign one night after dining at the Ranchman's steakhouse. That's also where we ate when I met him. (He spoke at the University of North Texas when I was teaching there.) The 74-year-old restaurant has been closed for two years, but the owner says it will reopen.

The other thing I realized on this reading is that Literary Life is dedicated to David Streitfeld, whom I met last year in San Francisco. We gathered to celebrate Margaret Harrell's new book about her relationship (and correspondence) with Hunter Thompson. David reported on books for The Washingon Post for many years, and Larry McMurtry owned a bookstore in Georgetown before shifting his operation to Archer City, TX.

Jann Wenner, Super Editor

"Savage Journey" describes the lengths to which HST's editors went to assemble and polish his articles and books. The "Rolling Stone" staff did an enormous amount of work under tough conditions. “Editing Hunter required stamina,” Jann Wenner said, “but I was young, and this was once in a lifetime, and we were clear on that." Add his face to the gallery of HST's super editors.

Hunter Thompson Chat on KPFA

I was delighted to appear on KPFA's "Letters and Politics" with Mitch Jeserich. Long-time listener, first-time guest.

Fanatical followers of this blog will know how much I appreciate KPFA, not only now, but also back in the day. In my teaching at San Francisco State University, I try to make sure my students understand its significance.

Tom Richards on Hunter Thompson

Another smart review of Savage Journey, this one from Tom Richards in the Houston Press. He's clearly an aficionado. Check it out, I say.

Jonah Raskin on Savage Journey

Welcome remarks from Jonah Raskin, and not only about the book. (He's quite right, for example, that Didion could be as scathing in her prose as Thompson was in his.) Much to think about here. Am I delighted by the praise for Savage Journey and the work leading up to it? Yes. Very much.

Early Reviews of Savage Journey

I somehow missed Sophia Stewart's very smart review of Savage Journey for Alta. She didn't go along for the whole ride, but she really got it. No surprise that she's the recipient of a 2021–22 National Book Critics Circle Emerging Critics Fellowship.

I also dug Ron Jacobs's more autobiographical piece in Counterpunch. He has been reflecting on this period for some time and with great insight and sympathy.

New Republic Article on Gonzo Journalism

This is probably my last Thompson article for a while. Smooth, balanced, pairs well with fowl. It traces the four factors that combined to produce Gonzo journalism. It's also my first piece for The New Republic. Thanks to Michael Tomasky for that opportunity.

Savage Journey Excerpt in Bookforum

I'm delighted that Bookforum ran an excerpt of Savage Journey. It has to do with Thompson's drug appetite, and especially its effect on his writing process. Throughout the book, I pay careful attention to Thompson's dealings with his editors. Aside from Ralph Steadman and possibly Oscar Acosta, they did as much as anyone to establish his reputation.

Savage Journey at City Lights

Thanks again to all who attended the City Lights launch party with David Talbot. Not long ago, I was wondering whether or not to do this project. A lunch at Cafe Zoetrope with David and Paul Yamazaki, the legendary City Lights buyer, helped me figure that out. Many thanks to them, and to Peter Maravelis, who hosted the event.

Last night we also discussed Warren Hinckle, and I wanted to add his face to the gallery of Hunter Thompson's super editors.

Hunter Thompson and Jim Silberman

I start the Thompson book with his 17-page letter to Jim Silberman at Random House in January 1970. Thompson confessed he had no idea how to finish his second book, which was already two years overdue. When that book finally appeared in 1972, they called it Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This week I learned that Silberman also edited Stewart Brand's The Last Whole Earth Catalog (1971), which won a National Book Award. Add this face to the gallery of Thompson's stellar editors.

Hunter Thompson, Media Critic

My first piece for The Nation ran today. It's about Hunter Thompson as media critic. This one is extra special for me, not only because The Nation ran Thompson's Hell's Angels article in 1965, but also because Carey McWilliams gave him that story. Many thanks to Katrina vanden Heuvel for the opportunity.

Bob Scheer on Hunter S. Thompson

Bob Scheer and I chatted about Hunter Thompson for his KCRW podcast. Happily, Bob brought his vast experience to bear on the topic. He and Thompson met at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which I argue was a turning point for HST. Bob was working for Ramparts at the time; two years later, his boss (Warren Hinkle) helped birth Gonzo journalism at Scanlan's Monthly. Always energizing to chat with Bob, gratifying that he liked the book so much, and I love the Mr. Fish illustration.

Hunter Thompson Chat With Magnus Toren

Magnus Toren, who runs the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, chatted with me about Hunter Thompson on his podcast. It was a great pleasure to visit with Magnus again--almost as good as our trip to Big Sur, which occurred right before the pandemic started in earnest.

Among other things, we talked about Thompson's time in Big Sur, which was brief but eventful. It was also very formative. At the time, Thompson thought of himself as a novelist-in-progress, and I argue that Henry Miller's model of authorship was very attractive to him.

The goal now is to schedule an event at the library. We'll see if we can pull that off in these fraught times.>

Lit Hub Article on Thompson and Gonzo

I wrote my first essay for Literary Hub on Gonzo journalism. I try to show how capsule histories miss something important about Thompson's signature style--specifically, the shaping power of sheer fortune. Gonzo journalism was many things--in the article, I offer six ways to characterize it--but it certainly wasn't the predictable outcome of a conscious project.

The positive feedback to this article on my Facebook page was gratifying. Timothy Ferris, who knew Thompson well from their days at Rolling Stone, had this to say: "Very nicely done. Avoids the pitfalls that have beset many other writers on this subject, and is also refreshingly original. The phrase 'both generative and degenerate' captures a lot. You can be proud of this piece." That meant a lot to me.