Hunter S. Thompson: An American Odyssey

"Some may never live, but the crazy never die." - Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson was a writer born in Louisville, Kentucky on July 18, 1937. He came from humble beginnings.

Alright, let’s get past all the boring technical shit and get to the sweet interesting stuff.

So, first, why did I want to write about this guy? Sure, I already know my biography will not do him the justice he probably deserves, but based on the little research I did, I can tell you one thing: He was quite a character.

Thompson wanted to be a great writer, and his commitment to writing is something straight out of a movie. He spent hours typing word-for-word the same novels as the great writers he admired who came before him. He retyped The Great Gatsby, one of the most prestigious pieces of American literature. He did this to get a rhythm for how it must have felt to write such an acclaimed piece of literature.

Fast forward a couple of years, and he’s at a horse track. He’s introduced to something that will forever change his writing—mushrooms. No, not the ones you get with your quesadilla, but the ones that you start listening to Pink Floyd with. This was the birth of Gonzo journalism.

(DISCLAIMER: I am not at all promoting the use of drugs.)

Afterward, he sent in his article that he wrote at the horse track (while under the influence of mushrooms), and it was a hit. He had never gotten so much admiration for a piece of writing before. Someone said, “This is gonzo!” And that was the birth of gonzo journalism.

Gonzo journalism is a firsthand telling of events where the author is a key player in the story. The piece almost has a personality, it’s more than just the facts. It provides us with the writer’s innermost thoughts. After this piece, gonzo took on a life of its own and so did Thompson.

Here's a snippet of Thompson’s daily routine:

3:00 pm rise

3:05 Chivas Regal with the morning papers, Dunhills

3:45 cocaine

3:50 another glass of Chivas, Dunhill

4:05 first cup of coffee, Dunhill

4:15 cocaine

4:16 orange juice, Dunhill

4:30 cocaine

4:54 cocaine

5:05 cocaine

5:11 coffee, Dunhills

5:30 more ice in the Chivas

5:45 cocaine, etc., etc.

Now that was only maybe half of what he did; he went to bed at around 8:20 in the morning because of his frequent use of cocaine and other drugs. But hey, it worked. He went on to become one of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century. Of course, this had its consequences.

In 2005, while still on the phone with his girlfriend, he killed himself. He had to do all these drugs to keep his writing gonzo, and years of such a harsh regimen led to serious chronic pain.

Hunter S. Thompson was a one-of-a-kind personality, and will forever be remembered as a writer who went to any length to produce great work. May his legacy live on.