Kingdom of Fear Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

by Thompson, Hunter S.

• ISBN13: 9780684873244
• ISBN10: 0684873249
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-11-06
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

Brilliant, provocative, outrageous, and brazen, Hunter S. Thompson's infamous rule breaking -- in his journalism, in his life, and of the law -- changed the shape of American letters and the face of American icons.Kingdom of Feartraces the course of Thompson's life as a rebel -- from a smart-mouthed Kentucky kid flouting all authority to a convention-defying journalist who came to personify a wild fusion of fact, fiction, and mind-altering substances.Call it the evolution of an outlaw. Here are the formative experiences that comprise Thompson's legendary trajectory alongside the weird and the ugly. Whether detailing his exploits as a foreign correspondent in Rio, his job as night manager of the notorious O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, his epic run for sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Power ticket, or the sensational legal maneuvering that led to his full acquittal in the famous 99 Days trial, Thompson is at the peak of his narrative powers inKingdom of Fear.And this boisterous, blistering ride illuminates as never before the professional and ideological risk taking of a literary genius and transgressive icon.

Author Biography

Hunter S. Thompson's books include Fear and Loathing in America, Screwjack, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Proud Highway, Better Than Sex, Songs of the Doomed, and The Rum Diary. A contributor to various national and international publications, including a weekly sports column for espn.com, Thompson lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Timothy Ferris	xv
Memo from the Sports Desk	xix
PART ONE
When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Turn Pro	3	(26)
The Mailbox: Louisville, Summer of 1946	3	(5)
Would You Do It Again?	8	(11)
The Witness	19	(10)
There Is No Such Thing as Paranoia	29	(13)
Strange Lusts and Terrifying Memories	29	(4)
Rape in Cherokee Park	33	(1)
God Might Forgive You, but I Won't	34	(6)
The New Dumb	40	(2)
In the Belly of the Beast	42	(29)
Sally Loved Football Players	44	(2)
Paris Review #156	46	(7)
What Marijuana?	53	(2)
Lynching in Denver	55	(5)
The Felony Murder Law-Don't Let This Happen to You	60	(5)
Jesus Hated Bald Pussy	65	(6)
PART TWO
Politics Is the Art of Controlling Your Environment	71	(73)
Running for Sheriff: Aspen 1970	71	(26)
Sunday Night at the Fontainebleau	97	(5)
Memo from the Sheriff	102	(4)
Dealing with the D.A.-Before and After	106	(6)
Saturday Night in Aspen	112	(4)
Witness II	116	(28)
Seize the Night	144	(24)
The Night Manager	144	(9)
16 Alexander	153	(7)
Where Were You When the Fun Stopped?	160	(1)
September 11, 2001	161	(7)
Speedism	168	(25)
Rules for Driving Fast	168	(4)
Song of the Sausage Creature	172	(5)
The Lion and the Cadillac	177	(3)
Geerlings & the War Minister's Son	180	(7)
Yesterday's Weirdness Is Tomorrow's Reason Why	187	(2)
Letter to John Walsh	189	(4)
PART THREE
The Foreign Correspondent	193	(89)
May You Live in Interesting Times	193	(1)
Last Days of Saigon	194	(2)
One Hand Clapping	196	(3)
The Invasion of Grenada	199	(18)
Ambassador to Cuba	217	(24)
Witness III	241	(36)
Letter from Lawyer Goldstein	277	(5)
It Never Got Weird Enough for Me	282	(53)
Fear and Loathing in Elko	285	(31)
Heeere's Johnny!	316	(10)
Kiss, Kiss	326	(4)
The War on Fat	330	(2)
Welcome to the Fourth Reich	332	(3)
Amor Vincit Omnia	335
The White Helicopter	335	(3)
Hey Rube, I Love You	338	(7)
Fear and Loathing at the Taco Stand	345