Despite my jaundiced remarks on Hunter S. Thompson, I could never deny that he was entertaining. And who doesn’t want to be entertained. I was sufficiently curious after reading the Richardson bio to buy a pile of HST books, used for cheap. I’ve already started what is supposed to be one of his best efforts, “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72.”
There is an intro by HST wannabe Matt Taibbi that I skipped. MT has gone way off the deep end in the Trump era. Sadly, no longer readable. I’ve canceled him.
The book opens with a flaming racist screed about crime in the District of Columbia. I was sufficiently offended to check some crime statistics, and apparently it was true that the crime rates in D.C. were head and shoulders above states. Not really a legitimate comparison, comparing a city to entire states, but I wasn’t going to do a research project. The racist taint holds regardless of the stats.
In the 1970s in New York City, I recall hearing stories about the reportedly horrendous crime in D.C. You couldn’t go anywhere, etc. I moved to the region in 1980 and lived in D.C. in the late 80s. The crime stories were rubbish. We lived in the hood for a while and lived to tell about it.
As reporting, at any rate, the book is indeed first rate. In keeping with my take on HST’s faculties for deeper analysis, I have to say it is still lame. His secret sauce is the notion of a potentially burgeoning youth vote that could upset the election. But as observation and reporting and writing style, once one gets past the racist tropes, the book is still a great read. I’m going to continue on with it.