Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail 821772 :: Essays Papers

awe and Loathing On the Campaign Trail 821772I knew I was in for something different before even opening the have. On the cover of the book was a skull colored by the American flag, with swastikas in its eye sockets. I wasnt quite sure what to expect, as I had no fancy who Hunter S. Thompson was. I opened the book and began to read through the conditions preface. Throughout were numerous references to drugs, sex, and politics. I began to get a impression of who HST was and about his style of writing. HTS revolutionized modern journalism with a style completely his own. He evolved a new style of journalism called Gonzo journalism. This bold and audacious style of journalism is the telling of the blatant truth with no persuasion of consequence. According to Thompson The true Gonzo reporter needs the talent of a earn journalist, the eye of an artist/photographer and the heavy balls of an actor. A gonzo journalist does non proofread his work, because that would take awa y from the spontaneous of the event. A Gonzo journalist leave witness an event, and either at the time of it, or shortly thuslyceforth completely write about it. When pen at an event, The reporter deeds his fingers to bloody nubs trying to capture all that is happening around him, and then sends it off to the editor without a second look. Bill Cardoso a culture friend of HTS coined the term gonzo in a letter regarding an article written about the Kentucky Derby in which he wrote The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and contrary, and was more about white trash than horses. Cardoso wrote, I dont know what the f*** youre doing, but youve changed everything. Its totally gonzo. Cardoso, himself a journalist, claims that gonzo is actually a corruption of a French Canadian word, gonzeaux, meaning, shining path. Gonzo journalism is also exceedingly subjective. When a Gonzo style article is written, it is clearly known where the writer stands on the topic of the article. Yo u become immersed in the writers feelings, thoughts, and views on any(prenominal) is being written about. HST is constantly extremely critical and scrutinizes every particular he ends up in with a sarcastic, humorous and/or staring(a) twist. I enjoy this part of his writing because it makes everything more interesting to read.