Savage Journey, Peter Richardson
Savage Journey, Peter Richardson
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Savage Journey
Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo

Author: Peter Richardson

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Unabridged: 11 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/15/2022

Synopsis

Savage Journey is a "supremely crafted" study of Hunter S. Thompson's literary formation and achievement. Focusing on Thompson's influences, development, and unique model of authorship, Savage Journey argues that his literary formation was largely a San Francisco story. During the 1960s, Thompson rode with the Hell's Angels, explored the San Francisco counterculture, and met talented editors who shared his dissatisfaction with mainstream journalism. Author Peter Richardson traces Thompson's transition during this time from New Journalist to cofounder of Gonzo journalism. He also endorses Thompson's later claim that he was one of the best writers using the English language as both a musical instrument and a political weapon.

Fifty years after the publication of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and more than a decade after his death, Thompson's celebrity continues to obscure his literary achievement. This book refocuses our understanding of that achievement by mapping Thompson's influences, probing the development of his signature style, and tracing the reception of his major works. It concludes that Thompson was not only a gifted journalist, satirist, and media critic, but also the most distinctive American voice in the second half of the twentieth century.

About Peter Richardson

Peter Richardson has written critically acclaimed books about the Grateful Dead, the iconic rock band; Ramparts magazine, the legendary San Francisco muckraker; and Carey McWilliams, the radical author, journalist, and editor of The Nation magazine.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Daniel on March 21, 2022

The following review appeared in the Washington Independent Review of Books. By Daniel de Visé In his new book, author Peter Richardson argues that Hunter S. Thompson was “the most distinctive American voice in the second half of the twentieth century.” That’s a tough sell. Thompson wrote three classic......more

Goodreads review by Josh on October 13, 2022

One of the better overviews of the good doctors work, short enough to be interesting, but detailed enough to be worth reading if you've already read a few of these. In some ways this is better than High White Notes because it gets to the point. There's no needless lingering over the obvious downward......more

Goodreads review by David on March 20, 2022

Solid biography of Thompson’s arc and evolution as a writer.......more

Goodreads review by John on August 16, 2022

This is what I expected, a study of Thompson’s influences and, to a lesser extent, influenced. HST cut a broad swath through my youth with his Rolling Stone articles and the two “Fear and Loathing” books. The ‘72 campaign book made a tremendous impression on me. Sort of made me with we could have ha......more

Goodreads review by Robert on June 21, 2022

Richardson gives us the social and literary context of Thompson's work without getting swept up in the Gonzo mystique or the biographical weirdness. I would wish for more detail and background, but that might extend the book to a social history of the sixties and seventies, given Thompson's reach. R......more

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