He pronounces Objective Journalism a myth, and proceeds to say exactly what he thinks of EVERYONE. Thompson admits to being a misanthrope, but claims that what made him that way was politics - Everything that is wrong-headed, cynical & vicious in me today traces straight back to that evil hour in September of '69 when I decided to get heavily involved in the political process.

And we won't even go into the part where Thompson's cigarette almost blows up Nixon's plane. And how many respected journalists can make this claim? - Random House still owes me a lot of money from that time when the night watchman beat my snake to death. I was bored from bad noise on the radio and half-drunk from doing off a quart of Wild Turkey between the Chicago and Altoona exit., or I finished my double-tequila and went upstairs to my room to get hopelessly stoned by myself and pass out. Oh, the madman pops up now and then with lines like. The drug-addled ramblings of a drunken madman, perhaps? Imagine my surprise to find his writing to be sharp, clear, keenly observant, and funny as hell. Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?Īs Thompson's reputation precedes him, I had no clue what to expect from this book.

As Johnny Knoxville writes in his foreword to this 50th anniversary edition: “Hunter predicted it all.” Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively readable, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is an epic political adventure that captures the feel of the American democratic process better than any other book ever written-and that is just as relevant to the many ills and issues roiling the nation today. Thompson’s searing account of the battle for the 1972 presidency-from the Democratic primaries to the eventual showdown between George McGovern and Richard Nixon-is infused with the characteristic wit, intensity, and emotional engagement that made Thompson “the flamboyant apostle and avatar of gonzo journalism” ( The New York Times). Thompson’s Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 remains a cornerstone of American political journalism and one of the bestselling campaign books of all time. The 50th anniversary edition of “the best account yet published of what it feels like to be out there in the middle of the American political process” ( The New York Times Book Review) featuring a new foreword from Johnny Knoxville.Ī half-century after its original publication, Hunter S.

Fear and loathing in the campaign trail