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

This book is a bigger ego stroke than Mein Kampf was for Hitler. Okay, maybe not, but it got to the point that I really wanted Thompson to shut up about how much smarter and patriotic he was than everyone else in the world.

At one juncture of the book - which is composed of a series of personal accounts of some of Thompson's most infamous encounters with famous people and law enforcement officials, and complimented by 3rd party contributions such as newspaper articles describing events throughout his life - the author claims to have no fear, only moments of uncertainty, while previously on the same page he had said that his face was numb and frozen with fear as he flew through the air over a railroad crossing on his motorcycle. His self-centeredness would be insufferable were it not for his amazing and unbelievable stories, within the context of which his self-centeredness is not-so-subtly revealed.

From childhood payback to fistfights in the streets of Rio to the invasion of Granada to out-running Nevada police with a local Judge and a jug of gin in the passenger seat, Thompson's tales are irresistibly engaging. They're funny, exciting and utterly hopeless all at the same time. The stories alone would've earned Thompson a 5-star mark here; however, Thompson can't resist making it perfectly clear to the reader that he always drove a car under the influence of hard liquor, had kinky sex with minors, managed a sex theatre, outsmarted every person he ever met, was friends with every famous person he wanted, broke military rules while in the Air Force, and could write better than anyone he could think of. He even says that "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," his most famous work, is "probably better" than "The Great Gatsby," and that he knows it's better than "The Sun Also Rises." Not that he's wrong, but the author of a work doesn't get to decide where it ranks among other works. Half credit to the Good Doctor for patting himself on the back with as much indulgence as he lived his life.

A nostalgic hindsight view of a mad man with a cause punctuated with the rants of a old mad man without a cause. Funny, but somehow there is an inside joke he is sharing with us that we don't know about

i love hunter s thompson and his various crazy stories. some of his crusades are amazing in their importance to society.

While "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" may be his best known, and maybe his most definitive novel, this is by far my favorite. It was his last real publication of non-released material, compiled into an almost autobiographical essay on post 9/11 America and the disasterous Bush Administration, that Thompson says "I piss down the throats of these Nazis". Very funny and a great backstory including funny adventures of his childhood, his trying-to-get-published years, and his descent into 1970s pop culture, and his now legendary success.
A great farewell to the greatest writer of our time.

R.I.P Hunter S. Thompson
"Ye gods"

After reading much of his earlier stuff I appreciated this book the most of them all. It gives one more insight into who is writing such craziness.

Incredible window into some of Hunters mid-late years, after left the media spotlight aimed at him dimmed. Excellent stories, as always, of hunters refusal to ever once let himself get bored. A must read for any true fan.

His fastball had more or less disappeared by this time. He doesn't have any skeletons in the closet, literarily speaking, but his latest works pale to the sharpness of his first few decades.

Didn't like this one. Thompson recants all the ways he's "stuck it to the man" politically. I'm personally not a fan of listening to anyone talk about how great they are, or how cool you're supposed to find them.

A collection of tales concerning the journey of a lonely Gentleman in a land of savages and maniacs. The Doctor proves himself as the Snow-Leopard of writing. All alone, He is better at this than anyone else on the planet. I hope that there are no mountain lions jumping into his Caddy in Heaven. Res Ipsa Loquitur.

Hunter is constantly inspirational, insightful, and just urges confusion and further thought into subjects you would have thought mute. His examinations and musings on the counter-culture of the 70's and 80's are astounding and insightful as ever.