Product Description

In the spring of 1970, Ralph Steadman went to America in search of work and found more than he bargained for. In Kentucky to cover the Derby, he met a former Hells Angel called Hunter S. Thompson. Their meeting resulted in a working relationship and a friendship that lasted for more than thirty years and spanned the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement, Nixon and Watergate, and the decay of the American Dream. Few people knew Thompson as well as Ralph Steadman did. In this unique memoir Steadman tells his story for the first time, the story - in words and pictures - of Ralph and Hunter, a great British original on a great American original, Butch and Sundance on acid...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83124 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

The Guardian
`Steadman's name is for ever welded to Thompson's, a fate he both celebrates and rues in this fascinating book, full of sad charm, and not too full of Hunter - just full enough ... This memoir has undeniable depth, thanks to Steadman's willingness to not merely record his life-threatening relationship with Thompson, but to do a bit of collateral detective work of his own.'

New Statesman
`an utterly engrossing read ... spirited and amusing'

TLS
'A priceless artefact for Thompson devotees ... Hilarious'

Customer Reviews

A unique perspective
I enjoyed this book. Ralph Steadman had spent a good deal of time with Hunter Thompson and it shows in his detailed, funny and numerous anecdotes.

Steadman was there at arguably the birth of Gonzo journalism, the Kentucky Derby, although he was not Thompsons first choice illustrator, as he himself points out. This episode is given emphasis in the book, as is the period surrounding their major collaboration 'The Curse of Lono'. The book covers a many events and times, these men were friends for decades. There are letters and faxes from Thompson printed verbatim. These obviously have never been published before and are insightful and in places, very funny.

Steadman is not a professional writer and in places it shows. He is however, intelligent, observant and he possesses a wicked sense of humour and at times a very caustic wit. He also pulls no punches, this is not a sycophantic homage to Thompson. At times it feels like an open letter to his deceased friend, it is a worthwhile read.

Pleasant enough but with no real substance
It's a nice package: a big impressive looking book with a typically striking cover. But this book promises a lot more than it delivers. Basically a series of scenes, anecdotes, vignettes, whatever, with the author meeting and working with Hunter S. T.

Do not expect to learn much about either man as coverage is mostly short and shallow. It's a nice enough read but it is very superficial. I learned nothing important about what drove HST, of what even makes Ralph Steadman tick. What was Hunter like he was? How did he live like that for so long? You won't find out here. You will come across a lot of letters and faxes though, and they get really tedious after a while, as anyone who's tried to read HST collected letters will tell you - fine in small bursts only.

Let's face it, most people interested in Hunter S have only read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. If that's the case, then read Songs of the Doomed next rather than this - you'll learn a lot more in every sense.

The Joke's Over....they aren't joking
I received this book as a present. I'm pleased I didn't spend my own money on it as I found it a very hard read. No doubt Steadman's experiences with Hunter Thompson were varied and noteworthy. However the style of writing in this book makes some of the events very difficult to follow. Some sections seem to be random thoughts just plucked out of his mind and thrown on to the page without consideration for how it will read for the people who were not at the event.

From the 3rd quarter of the book and on, it is more a collection of correspondence than anything else. Personally I found this to be useless and a little boring. Steadman adds little commentary. I would have liked something to back up what was being talked about, especially with the benefit of Steadman's hindsight.

The most interesting parts of this book are where Steadman is describing how their relationship was really love/hate. Most of the hate seems to have come from Thompson's side, at least in this version of events. Steadman eludes to the fact that he felt used by Thompson on several occasions. After finishing I got the impression that Steadman's true feelings towards Thompson remain slightly bottled up and that he has never truly resolved in his own mind how friendly they actually were. Certainly they shared many experiences, but were they out of convenience? That is a question I wanted an answer to.

All in all I was frustrated by this book. I wanted to here more about the relationship and less about the number of times they got drunk or high. That story has been told already. Maybe Steadman couldn't write that story as he just can't remember all of it!