Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively readable, these are the articles that Hunter S. Thompson wrote for Rolling Stone maga... read full description
reviews
Jul 28, 2008
Brian
rated it: 
The most striking aspect of Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 to a reader in the summer of 2008 (me) is the parallel between 1972 and 2008. As an unpopular war rages, the anointed establishment candidate, replete with a massive lead in endorsements from the major players, loses the inevitable Democratic nomination to an insurgent change candidate, in part because the former has to explain away earlier support for the war the latter opposed from the start. And the Democratic nominee
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Feb 20, 2008
Jeff
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Every time I read Hunter Thompson, I wonder what people who aren't into drugs of any kind think of this dude.
Still, I can't think of another book (that I'd actually feel like reading) that takes so much care -- to the extent that one can apply that word to Thompson's work -- with the Thomas Eagleton "affair," as its referred to in the text.
(Tangentially, I find myself contemplating how difficult it would be to use the word "affair" today to describe s More...
Still, I can't think of another book (that I'd actually feel like reading) that takes so much care -- to the extent that one can apply that word to Thompson's work -- with the Thomas Eagleton "affair," as its referred to in the text.
(Tangentially, I find myself contemplating how difficult it would be to use the word "affair" today to describe s More...
Apr 16, 2008
gaby
rated it: 
I have a longstanding affection for reading books in the locations at which the books take place. I developed this interest during an apoplectic fit of maudlin sophomoricism when, at 18, I spent the summer in Paris reading everything possible connected to 20th century literature in that city (the collected volumes of Anais Nin's diaries, Henry Miller's Parisian fantasies, even that Hemingway book that only starts in Paris (The Sun Also Rises?), all those surrealist manifestos, Andre Breton's in
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Feb 04, 2012
Will
rated it:
(Side note: if you're a political junkie or reading this during a presidential campaign add another star)
The most surprising thing about this book wasn't that Thompson's out-of-control style had aged well (for the most part), but that he really was a very incisive political reporter. I always liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but a lot of his political writing (for ESPN and other outlets) I saw in the decade before he died sounded like the rehashing of an once important counter-cu More...
The most surprising thing about this book wasn't that Thompson's out-of-control style had aged well (for the most part), but that he really was a very incisive political reporter. I always liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but a lot of his political writing (for ESPN and other outlets) I saw in the decade before he died sounded like the rehashing of an once important counter-cu More...
Jul 27, 2011
I miss Hunter S Thompson. He may have been a mad drug crazed writer, but his turn of phrase and his descriptions of decadence have always appealed to me. Any time I see Wild Turkey in a bar I order a shot as a secret tribute to him, even though whiskey isn't usually my thing.
Reading Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail seems like more of an insight into what it must have been like to prize work out of Hunter S Thompson than anything else. I didn't really learn anything about American Politics More...
Reading Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail seems like more of an insight into what it must have been like to prize work out of Hunter S Thompson than anything else. I didn't really learn anything about American Politics More...
Jul 27, 2011
Tom
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I went through this book like a buzzsaw through a piece of wood. It helps that I love Hunter S. Thompson to begin with- I love his style, his meandering prose, his blending and blurring of fact and fiction, his general drug-taking, booze drinking hedonistic lifestyle that just seems like a hurricane of insane... fun. Not that I'm saying I'd be OK with taking large amounts of narcotics these days, but had I been around back in the 70s, I have a feeling I would have been growing long, shaggy, 'Daz
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Aug 15, 2010
Michael
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I knew very little about the 1972 election prior to reading this. I knew Nixon beat McGovern and that was about it. Having read this I know a lot more about the Democratic primary that led to McGovern’s nomination at the Democratic Convention. I also learned that Hunter Thompson is a bit out there.
The book is written from a definite point-of-view and includes information and well as Thompson’s impressions and views on politics and politicians and football. After reading this I was More...
The book is written from a definite point-of-view and includes information and well as Thompson’s impressions and views on politics and politicians and football. After reading this I was More...
Dec 06, 2009
Marvin
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My second favorite novel of Thompson's after Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Campaign Trail '72 is the epitome of the gonzo journalism experience. The author has just the right amount of straight journalism and personal experience which of course includes some of his own outrageous reactions and opinions. The amazing thing is how much he got right. His predictions were pretty much correct. We now know that the Democrat Party really did sabotage the McGovern campaign and were fine with four years
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Mar 12, 2011
Annie
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I enjoyed this a lot, but in a kind of disgusted way. It was really interesting (I learned a lot about politics). It was also pretty depressing (I learned a lot about politics). I do really enjoy Hunter S. Thompson's crazed writing style, and the fact that he doesn't really mind offending people and will tell it like it is regardless makes it probably more of an informative book on this election than you might find elsewhere. I probably wouldn't recommend it if you're a Republican, but in tha
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Nov 23, 2011
Michael
rated it:
One of those adolescent discoveries that I suspect may not stand up well to a re-read, but at the time it changed my life.
I had been a music major my freshman year of college for the first few months, until I realized that my goals in music (essentially become a rock god & enjoy the side-benefits of that divinity) weren't being materially furthered by learning the difference between the Lydian and Ionian modes.
Thanks to a friend, I'd discovered the other Fear & Loathing More...
I had been a music major my freshman year of college for the first few months, until I realized that my goals in music (essentially become a rock god & enjoy the side-benefits of that divinity) weren't being materially furthered by learning the difference between the Lydian and Ionian modes.
Thanks to a friend, I'd discovered the other Fear & Loathing More...
Nov 14, 2011
Bart
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This book is a typically wonderful and well-written collection of pieces from a pioneer of gonzo journalism. It is not zany, or good, as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but it still remains a joy throughout.
If it suffers at all, it suffers for Hunter Thompson's sincerity. There are moments in the book when Thompson steps away from his madman prose and writes angrily about Richard Nixon. These passages, while valuable and ultimately endorsed by history, are almost too sincere; Thomps More...
If it suffers at all, it suffers for Hunter Thompson's sincerity. There are moments in the book when Thompson steps away from his madman prose and writes angrily about Richard Nixon. These passages, while valuable and ultimately endorsed by history, are almost too sincere; Thomps More...
Apr 13, 2009
Cyrus
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The first Hunter S. Thompson book I'd read in years, this was decent political journalism, but seemed to suffer a bit in the transition from magazine article to book. Having some foreknowledge of the events described was helpful, but I had to think that for a reader with less knowledge of U.S. history and politics the book would have been confusing and a bit tedious.
Only a few segments (the Muskie vs. Yippie incident and the VVAW protests at the Republican convention) shone with T More...
Only a few segments (the Muskie vs. Yippie incident and the VVAW protests at the Republican convention) shone with T More...
Jul 10, 2011
Mack
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There are a few books-- very few-- I read that, after I've finished and if they've left an impression on me, I track down and purchase an original 1st edition printing of it to put up on my shelf (perhaps my daughter will read them one day and have a better understanding of who I am; maybe I just like to collect beautiful things). This is one of those books. It's a rare feat to be both timely and classic, and regardless of when you pick this one up, you'll find Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign
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Aug 15, 2011
Joseph
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I can't get enough of Hunter S Thompson's wry, witty, biting, relevant observation and social commentary. It's hilarious! This is the textbook example of Gonzo journalism: a month by month account of the 1972 presidential campaign as it happened. I think this approach does a great job of illustrating the soap opera which is politics: extreme highs and lows, loooong strings of battles building in intensity, adrenaline rushes of victory, despair of defeat, talking-heads analyzing each miniscule
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May 21, 2009
The STOP SMILING Downfall of American Publishing Issue dedicates 40 pages to an oral history of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, which includes interviews with collaborators and friends such as Ralph Steadman, Craig Vetter, wife Anita Thompson, PJ O'Rourke, and more.
About the issue, Slate media critic Jack Shafer wrote, "Stop Smiling's oral history of Hunter S. Thompson bested Rolling Stone's similarly constructed special issue about the Doctor in every way.
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Apr 26, 2010
Tcpitt2007
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Hunter S. Thompson takes an insightful and unabashed look at American Politics as he travels around the country with the McGovern campaign before the 1972 election. His prose are filled with his usual dry humor and wit and takes an uncensored approach to how he describes the candidates not caring if he burns bridges in the process.
Often this book goes very indepth with the political process to the point that if the reader is not a student of politics it becomes hard to follow. Thi More...
Often this book goes very indepth with the political process to the point that if the reader is not a student of politics it becomes hard to follow. Thi More...
Feb 15, 2009
Raegan
rated it:
When the man was in his prime, before the booze and coke whittled his talent down to a sputtering winking flame, he could really write. This is an example of what he was capable of before the whore of fame came to claim him.
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Dec 04, 2010
Madkropotkin
rated it:
Good God this book was good! Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is an excellent author and this book has been one of the most entertaining reads I have had in a long time.
This book has everything, politics, drugs, intrigue, drugs, alcohol, drugs, backstabbing, drugs, and of course drugs. Dr. Thompson's writing is a roller coaster ride, you actually feel his chaotic thoughts jump from the page. You end up being a traveling companion to Dr. Thompson throughout the 1972 campaign trail, beginning with More...
This book has everything, politics, drugs, intrigue, drugs, alcohol, drugs, backstabbing, drugs, and of course drugs. Dr. Thompson's writing is a roller coaster ride, you actually feel his chaotic thoughts jump from the page. You end up being a traveling companion to Dr. Thompson throughout the 1972 campaign trail, beginning with More...
Dec 12, 2010
Tim
rated it: 
Got to be somewhat political for this book. I read this around the 2004 election simply because of the correlation. The election in '72 was between McGovern and Nixon, which in comparison to current events, would have been the equivalent to Kerry vs. Bush 2. Both war time presidents going for second terms, with one hardly known democrat trying to prove that there needs to be some change in the gears of our government. Both McGovern and Kerry failed horribly, and tragically both Nixon and Bush ha
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Mar 31, 2011
Ryan
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God, I love this book. Many people treat Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Hunter S. Thompson's best book. Not true. On the Campaign Trail '72 should be remembered as Thompson's signature work. People forget that Thompson wasn't just some drug-addled freak; he was, first and foremost, a politics junkie and a sharp journalist. On the Campaign Trail '72 stands as one of the best pieces of American political journalism -- not for any clear, objective reporting, but for capturing so effectively the
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Dec 22, 2011
Pf87
rated it:
A highly informal but revealing look at the bullshit machine that is American democracy. Thompson, a sports geek, narrates even the most esoteric parts of campaigning with the urgency of a horse race, dumping on mounds and mounds of impenetrable data: there are endless names, places, polling data, demographic breakdowns, predictions, et cetera. Shortly after Nixon's reelection I'm sure this was an enthralling read, but after forty years the level of detail seems, to this young, contemporary read
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Sep 01, 2008
Matt
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In this historic and so important election year I though it was only appropriate to re-visit this title...Miss ya Doc.
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May 07, 2010
David
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It's dated now, but it certainly was cutting edge in 1972. Thompson's first major foray into political Gonzo journalism. I read most of it in installments as it appeared in Rolling Stone during the campaign, while I was teaching journalism at Kansas State University. I was amused, fascinated, appalled. Where's the old J-School objectivity I was teaching my students? Non-existent, in Hunter S. Thompson's world. He launched a whole new ballgame of participatory/advocacy/crazoid journalism. It was
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Aug 09, 2011
Ryan
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Probably one of the most interesting and informative written material on political campaigns in general. While some might disagree and say that this book represents a more "subdued" Hunter Thompson than the one pictured in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or the Hells Angels, I think this book, more than the others, captures the essence of gonzo or hyper subjective journalism. I'll admit this book became boring and tedious at times, but I think it truely represented a "middle fing
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Dec 18, 2010
Tj
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While not a perfect (or perfectly accurate) narrative of the politics of the 70's, this is a compelling read. Dr. Thompson takes us on a trip and his observations concerning his fellow journalists on the campaign trail (notably that there is no such thing as a journalist without biases or prejudices) were groundbreaking in their honesty. A great introduction to the "New Journalism" school of nonfiction writing that was undergoing adolescence at the time. Toss in a great (and bizarre) l
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Jul 27, 2011
Compared to some of Thompson's other political writings, this volume is, in some ways, a remarkably restrained take on the American electoral system. However, it is so distinctive and individualistic in its style that it could not have been written by anyone else but the late, great Dr Gonzo! This is a fascinating look at the way the American political system works (or, conversely, doesn't work) from a cynical insider's viewpoint, and it should be an essential volume on the reading list of anyon
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Sep 22, 2010
gargamelscat
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I expected to hate the countercultural perspective and dodgy, eh Gonzo, journalism.
Though the 72 campaign was a massive anticlimax HST manages to make it almost spellbinding. At least up until the Dems convention in Miami which is about 2/3 of the way through the book.
After that he seems to get burned out and just wants it over with.
The book - which is quite long - could lose about 100 pages without detracting from it. I also thought the Ralph Steadman cartoon More...
Though the 72 campaign was a massive anticlimax HST manages to make it almost spellbinding. At least up until the Dems convention in Miami which is about 2/3 of the way through the book.
After that he seems to get burned out and just wants it over with.
The book - which is quite long - could lose about 100 pages without detracting from it. I also thought the Ralph Steadman cartoon More...
Mar 02, 2010
Loyola University Chicago Libraries
rated it:
I carried this book in my backpack and reserved it for reading a few pages on my 7-minute train commute or during my lunch breaks when my assigned school readings for the week were done. And yet despite the way in which I was only able to devote myself to a few pages at a time, I was completely engrossed by HST's writing. I did not expect to be as wrapped up in this as I was. This was on my To Read list for years and I'm glad I finally gave it a go. Of course now I'm tempted to ignore my schoolw
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Oct 31, 2011
Kari
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Having no real knowledge or interest in American politics I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this but wanted to at least try it. I am so glad that I did! I found it a fascinating read and was amazed at how engrossed I became in the campaign and the intricacies of the political system. Thompson's style and method of story telling keeps you interested throughout, despite the large amounts of information on voting percentages etc. that I didn't fully understand. His passion for the subject shone throug
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Nov 15, 2011
Gini
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I read enough of this book to get the gist of the feeling of the campaign, and also Hunter S Thompson’s writing style. But as it is extremely dated I felt like that was enough.
Not that I don’t like dated things. I love dated things, in fact! They offer a great perspective, I can’t re-iterate this to people enough. If you want to put current events in perspective, read current events reporting from 20+ years ago. Makes you realize that the sense of urgency that something must change or More...
Not that I don’t like dated things. I love dated things, in fact! They offer a great perspective, I can’t re-iterate this to people enough. If you want to put current events in perspective, read current events reporting from 20+ years ago. Makes you realize that the sense of urgency that something must change or More...
