Hunter S. Thompson and Gonzo

The Boston Globe's Sunday edition, November 21, has a nice story on the origin of the word "gonzo," most notably used to describe Hunter S Thompson's style of "writer-as-main-character-writing."

Hunter S. Thompson was perhaps the number one reason why I got back into reading great literature back in 2002. I owe my aggressive reading program to two things: a) the Air Force sending me to a remote assignment for indefinite period of time; and, b) Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels.  I first read Hell's Angels while living in my office for six months back in 1998, I believe it was. The Air Force did not allow folks to live in their offices as that time so I had to make it look like I was going home every night. The most difficult thing was to explain to the custodians that I was simply working late. Hunter S. Thompson helped me make it through the night.

According to the Boston Globe, Johnny Depp "will reprise the character [of Hunter S. Thompson in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"] next year when Thompson's novel The Rum Diary is brought to the screen.

Thompson spent his life writing The Rum Diary, which I believe was published posthumously or very near so. It's not a satisfactory novel, but after reading some of Hemingway's works, one sees the connection, and, looking back, Thompson might have outdid Hemingway in some ways.