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    Cover of The great shark hunt

    The great shark hunt

    Hunter S. Thompson, José Manuel Álvarez Flórez, Ángela Pérez · 1979

    The first volume in Hunter S. Thompson's bestselling Gonzo Papersoffers brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in his signature style. Originally published in 1979, the first volume of the bestselling "Gonzo Papers" is now back in print. The Great Shark Huntis Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's largest and, arguably, most important work, covering Nixon to napalm, Las Vegas to Watergate, Carter to cocaine. These essays offer brilliant commentary and outrageous humor, in signature Thompson style. Ranging in date from the National Observerdays to the era of Rolling Stone, The Great Shark Huntoffers myriad, highly charged entries, including the first Hunter S. Thompson piece to be dubbed "gonzo"--"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved," which appeared in Scanlan's Monthlyin 1970. From this essay a new journalistic movement sprang which would change the shape of American letters. Thompson's razor-sharp insight and crystal clarity capture the crazy, hypocritical, degenerate, and redeeming aspects of the explosive and colorful '60s and '70s.

    Biography & MemoirPolitics & Society
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    4recommend
    4mentions
    4people
    2014–2019years
    100% recommend

    Mentions per year

    201420152016201720182019

    What Hacker News says

    1. mrmondoFeb 2019
      Probably the two that I find myself thinking back to most often are Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlein), The Phoenix Project (Gene Kim), The Great Shark Hunt (Hunter S Thompson), Several Bukowski short stories and most recently The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake (Steven Novella, Bob Novella, Cara Santa Maria, Jay Novella, Evan Bernstein).
      thread
    2. bluetwoJun 2017
      I'm a big fan of "The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time" which is a collection of articles from the first part of his career. I haven't read The Proud Highway but it sounds good.
      thread
    3. dmixAug 2016
      His collections of letters and journalistic work is way better than his books. He always hated writing books and was much better in short brilliant bursts. He wrote extensively to his friends (some very famous friends like Tom Wolfe and other great writers).

      Both the letters and articles were released in 3 book series each. These are my favourite books from each series:

      (letters) The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1

      https://www.amazon.com/Proud-Highway-Desperate-Gentleman-195...

      (articles) The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time

      https://www.amazon.com/Great-Shark-Hunt-Strange-Tales/dp/074...

      thread
    4. hv23May 2014
      I’ll have to check this one out!

      Also highly recommended — "The Great Shark Hunt", a collection of his pieces through the 60s and 70s. "Hell's Angels" is marvelous, "Fear and Loathing” is probably his best-known, but nothing quite covers the range of HST's work like this book.

      http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Shark-Hunt-Strange/dp/074325...

      thread

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