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The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967
(The Fear and Loathing Letters #1)
by
Here, for the first time, is the private and most intimate correspondence of one of America's most influential and incisive journalists—Hunter S. Thompson. In letters to a Who's Who of luminaries from Norman Mailer to Charles Kuralt, Tom Wolfe to Lyndon Johnson, William Styron to Joan Baez—not to mention his mother, the NRA, and a chain of newspaper editors—Thompson vividl
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Paperback, 720 pages
Published
April 7th 1998
by Ballantine Books
(first published May 6th 1997)
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Start your review of The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967
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Imagine having your dream job of writing, only to be fired 10 times in a row, to then squander in poverty for 10 years with your wife and child, following your dream.... only to become famous for putting yourself in the center of a true story about the Hells Angels where you were almost beaten to death. Hunter lived an extraordinary life, and this hilarious book gives a behind the scenes look from his own Letters. Incredibly, Hunter kept copies of over 10,000 letters he wrote - before photocopyi
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I started reading this four or five years ago,got about a fifth of the way through it and put it on the shelf.I guess I was wanting drug addled ranting at the time which is not really what this book is made of.However on picking the book up again recently in a more open and mature state of mind I found it to be a thoroughly good insight into the mans character and sometimes dire (mostly self-inflicated) situations he faced as a young man learning his trade.
The book is well edited with notes be ...more
The book is well edited with notes be ...more
Municipal Court Magistrate, Town Hall, West Milford, NJ November 6, 1959:
"Dear Sir,
Earlier today I was given a summons to appear before your court on November 9, on a charge of 'leaving the scene of an accident.' I shall have to decline this appearance, and I hope this letter will explain why. By November 9, I shall be well out of the state of New Jersey, but I don't want to leave without explaining my position..."
"So, faced with a choice of paying a minimum of $25 for falling off a motor scoo ...more
"Dear Sir,
Earlier today I was given a summons to appear before your court on November 9, on a charge of 'leaving the scene of an accident.' I shall have to decline this appearance, and I hope this letter will explain why. By November 9, I shall be well out of the state of New Jersey, but I don't want to leave without explaining my position..."
"So, faced with a choice of paying a minimum of $25 for falling off a motor scoo ...more
All I can think is wow, what a crappy husband he was 😂
If theres only one thing youre ever going to read by this man, make it this. Its his life biography, written in real time in prolific letters to everyone and anyone who would listen in his life. if you want to learn anything about hunter s. here is the best place to do it with the most accuracy. its amazing.
Hunter S. Thompson is Decadent and Depraved
My entry vector to the world of Hunter S. Thompson was the film version of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," which I watched in a somewhat altered state, having been awake for nearly 36 hours on a bus trip from Georgia that left me too exhausted to take out my frustrations on anything. Possibly the only way to watch "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is in a state of severe sleep deprivation.
Later, after reading the book, as well as "The Rum Diary" and a ...more
My entry vector to the world of Hunter S. Thompson was the film version of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," which I watched in a somewhat altered state, having been awake for nearly 36 hours on a bus trip from Georgia that left me too exhausted to take out my frustrations on anything. Possibly the only way to watch "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is in a state of severe sleep deprivation.
Later, after reading the book, as well as "The Rum Diary" and a ...more
A book filled with personal letters and correspondence?!? Why would I want to read something like this? Well, because Hunter S. Thompson wrote all of them. The man is, was, and always will be an incredibly crazy human being (at least I think he was human). But, the excellence of his writing cannot be denied, and is always, always interesting, laugh out loud funny, and thought provoking.
I will enjoy most anything written by this man, but I think The Proud Highway is one of his best.
I will enjoy most anything written by this man, but I think The Proud Highway is one of his best.
Interesting to see Hunter's early life and reaction to some of the big events in his life from the letters perspective instead of as an article or story.
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I wouldn't normally recommend a book of correspondence, but when it's Hunter S. Thompson the normal can be thrown out the window. As a young man in high school, he showed his incredible arrogance/confidence in saving almost everything he wrote, making carbon copies of his letters and noting that they would someday be published in book form, years before tasting any sort of fame. This book of letters reads almost like fiction. Hunter is forced to enlist in the Air Force to avoid a burglary convic
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This may be my favorite Hunter Thompson book. It's a collection of letters (he saved carbons of everything he ever wrote) from a young writer, not yet proven, but cocksure and brash as they come. He reaches out to publishers, politicians, and friends as he begins to carve a niche as a journalist and novelist.
It's his most honest writing, and as all these letters were written before his legend had surpassed his talent, you don't get the 'Gonzo' treatment, or the lazy indignation that fueled his ...more
It's his most honest writing, and as all these letters were written before his legend had surpassed his talent, you don't get the 'Gonzo' treatment, or the lazy indignation that fueled his ...more
My last exposure to Hunter S. Thompson was in high school, when I read the Rum Diary and of course Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; it's not to say I wasn't impressed, but after reading the Proud Highway I am completed..enamored..? by Thompson's writing. Nothing can be more insightful than this amazing collection of his correspondences, and of course his letters are incredibly well-written, politically charged at times and there are even a couple of love letters thrown in the mix. so good!
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This is a book for those who love literature, especially Hunter S Thompsons work. The hundreds of letters that make up this book show his many moods and his honesty.
Thompson was critical of himself and others, but not in a nasty way. Well, yes, he could be a complete pain in the arse, but he always seems to apologise for rudeness if it's to people he cares about. Those who are called to account without mercy are usually unimaginative dolts who lack creative ideas.
I'm biased, of course. Many wi ...more
Thompson was critical of himself and others, but not in a nasty way. Well, yes, he could be a complete pain in the arse, but he always seems to apologise for rudeness if it's to people he cares about. Those who are called to account without mercy are usually unimaginative dolts who lack creative ideas.
I'm biased, of course. Many wi ...more
Mar 02, 2008
furious
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of HST, fans of writing, fans of journalism
i started reading this when i was working w/ Suave at the library in glassboro over winter break junior year of college, & then i didn't pick it up again until about a month ago. now i am taking it slow, because it is fantastic. and i remember how quickly i devoured the letters volume 2 (Fear & Loathing in America). i wish i had had the foresight to save a copy of every word i ever wrote...
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If you want to understand what it took to give birth to Gonzo journalism, read this book. Hunter S. Thompson, the man most people know as a drug crazed mad man who answers to no one, has to start somewhere. This book tells the story of a man trying to get his start as a writer and eventually succeeding in piecing together the beginnings of something beautiful. As a bonus, this book also reveals much about HST as a reader.
This is my first (albeit short) review that I have written on this site: I cannot more highly recommend any book or collection of Hunter S. Thompson's papers, ephemera, etc. If you have read any of his work read this-- every letter that they have found of his, including return correspondence, is collected in this rather massive collection.
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Hunter S. Thompson, the man behind his brilliance. I have many favourite authors, but Thompson is at the peak. These letters of correspondence shed light into the world Thompson lived, whilst sweating over a typewriter, in his pursuit of literary fame. Hilarious, brutal, shocking, but always honest. I plan to enforce this read upon all I know, and all whom should. Enjoy, you will.
This collection of Hunter S. Thompson's letters offers, perhaps, the best insight into his genius. His letters, even at a young age, were literate, exotic, interesting and wildly amusing.
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I enjoyed reading this -- especially his letters and correspondence as a young man trying to find himself -- much more than when I read the gonzo journalism he became famous for.
did get a view inside his head and taught me how to properly write letters.
I read this, after reading Hell's Angels, which I enjoyed. He saved every letter. Passionate, intelligent and impulsive, his letter writing is up there with his best published writing. I highlighted a lot of quotes in it. A complex person, not easily categorized, he was a member of the NRA, a fierce opponent of the Vietnam war, a friend of Ginsberg, an Air Force vet, able and willing to offend with language, afraid of a fascist future, in the form of Reagan and Nixon. He loved and hated. He prob
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This book is proof that HST was the ultimate Method writer. He was always in character, even when writing letters. For many of these letters, he was his gonzo self, writing and going on in much the same way he did in his books and journalism pieces.
There is no new ground broken here. Fans will love it. Especially entertaining are his letters to William Kennedy, Bill Seomin and Charles Kuralt. He goes off on the counter-culture, the writing business, relationships, the political situation, Vietna ...more
There is no new ground broken here. Fans will love it. Especially entertaining are his letters to William Kennedy, Bill Seomin and Charles Kuralt. He goes off on the counter-culture, the writing business, relationships, the political situation, Vietna ...more
This book can be categorized as a stream of consciousness record of a bright, highly opinionated individual. This record occurred during a time when I was young and oblivious kid and carries thru the start of my military service. The latter period was when I was slowly becoming aware of this country and the world around me. Ironically, Thompson's observations and thoughts 50 years later were right on point. I vaguely remember people around me considered him a "wacko" but I was too busy with life
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Where to begin? This tome surprised me pleasantly. I had not high expectations. It is, after all, simply a collection of letters from Hunter S, and in most all cases, devoid of the opposing correspondence... like hearing only half of the conversation. And yet, though never intended to be a book in their composition, these letters provide a rather gripping, authentic narrative to the late fifties and 1960s and, effectively, an early memoir of the author himself.
Few of us can write better books on ...more
Few of us can write better books on ...more
I took me forever to finish this, but I enjoyed it the whole way through. This is like a biography, but in the persons own words, written at the time they were living it. You also get to see the code switching, the difference in tone between letters to friends, mom, girlfriends, agents and publishers, businesses, and landlords. The arc is also a classic starving artist story, ending in the big break. As with any Thompson, the writing offers a unique take on history that feels like a front row se
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Finally finished reading this saga and I would say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was quite entertaining and also fascinating to read the account of a man who was alive as a journalist during the 50's and 60's. At times while reading I would take note of certain viewpoints that he voiced, and then would have to take into account that this is a white-man in the 50's writing his story through his narrative. Tinged with the reality of the racial and economic equalities of those time periods, it was ey
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There hasn't been a more inciteful, humorous, erudite chronicler of American life, politics and sports during the second half of the 20th century than Hunter. He reformed the language of modern English to fit his life and talents, and while others attempted to imitate him in style and substance, they often failed at both. He was the one and only.
The Proud Highway provides the reader with evidence of his talents from age 17, and the adventure that was his mind pops from the page.
He was the best. ...more
The Proud Highway provides the reader with evidence of his talents from age 17, and the adventure that was his mind pops from the page.
He was the best. ...more
I just re-read this for maybe the fourth or fifth time. I absolutely love Thompson's books and articles, but his letters are perhaps where he is at his best. These show the development of one of the most brilliant minds in American literature. This collection ends prior to the advent of Gonzo and there isn't as much politics as many might expect. Rather, this is a frustrated young man trying to figure out himself and his environment.
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Wow! What a ride that was. Hunter S. Thompson could really write, especially when he was pissed off. His nasty letters, even to those he admired were my favorite. He would throw three jabs, then sprinkle a compliment or ask them for a job, only to quickly turn back to the punches.
His mind roared as aggressively as the life he lived... luckily for us, he wrote all of it down on paper to live on for generations to come.
His mind roared as aggressively as the life he lived... luckily for us, he wrote all of it down on paper to live on for generations to come.
This is Hunter Thompsons raw and candid rise from a talented writer to a litterary prodigy, documented from his personal letters written from 1955-67. We get to ride along his early (and continous) struggles with money, deadlines and fiction-book dreams (some years before his breakthrough fiction-esque sucsess of "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas", released in 71).
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Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, famous for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become the central figures of their stories. He is also known for his promotion and use of psychedelics and other mind-altering substanc
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