Kingdom of Fear : Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century - Softcover

Hunter S. Thompson

3.95

9,671 ratings by Goodreads

9780141014227: Kingdom of Fear : Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141014229 ISBN 13: 9780141014227

Publisher: Penguin Books, Ltd (UK), 2008

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'Hot damn! Let us rumble, keep going and don't slow down...let's have a little fun...' In his much-anticipated memoir, Hunter S. Thompson looks back on a long and productive life. It is a story of crazed road trips fueled by bourbon and black acid, of insane judges and giant porcupines, of girls, guns, explosives and, of course, bikes. He also takes on his dissolute youth in Louisville; his adventures in pornography; campaigning for local office in Aspen; and what it's like to accidentally be accused of trying to kill Jack Nicholson. Alongside this 'depraved and terrifying adventure', Hunter S. Thompson exposes the darkness at the heart of America today: a time when the 'goofy child President' and the New Dumb have taken control, and the nation thralls to Bush's War on Terror, War on Evil, War on Iraq, and even War on Fat...a time when fear and loathing are greater than ever.

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Review:

Kingdom of Fear is billed as a memoir, but in essence, all of Hunter S. Thompson's books could fit into this category since his life and work have always been tightly bound together by a mythology largely of his own making. (After all, this is the man who, before earning a single dollar as a writer, began meticulously saving a copy of every letter he ever sent.) Still, this is certainly an unconventional memoir, but then what would you expect from the father of gonzo journalism? In these pages Thompson manages to dig deep and reveal a few "loathsome secrets" without offering the kind of personal details he has always avoided. His childhood, for instance, is basically summed up in a sentence: "I look back on my youth with great fondness, but I would not recommend it as a working model to others." He does, however, reflect upon his considerable legacy, including his well-known, and admittedly exaggerated, use of controlled substances ("The brutal reality of politics alone would probably be intolerable without drugs"), as well as offer assessments of his own work, such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ("It's as good as The Great Gatsby and better than The Sun Also Rises").

In this collection of twisted parables and outlaw adventures, Thompson writes about his early run-ins with agents of authority and the lessons learned; his stint in the Air Force and the beginning of his journalism career; his unsuccessful, though illuminating, bid for Sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in 1970 as the Freak Power candidate; the casualties and unintended consequences thus far in the War on Terror; and numerous examples of present-day injustice and hypocrisy--all with his characteristic mix of brutal frankness laced with humor. He also offers his own take on state of the Union: "The prevailing quality of life in America--by any accepted methods of measuring--was inarguably freer and more politically open under Nixon than it is today in this evil year of Our Lord 2002." Thompson continues to make even the most deadly serious subject matter endlessly entertaining. --Shawn Carkonen

About the Author:

Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His books include Fear and Loathing in America, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Proud Highway, Better Than Sex and The Rum Diary. Dr Thompson lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colorado.

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