Kingdom of Fear

Kingdom of Fear
Hunter S. Thompson

7.5/10

This book is Thompson’s parting gift to us. He sums up his youth (much antics and early disdain for authority) tells of his life as a writer and bits of everything up to the time the book was published. Of course many, many interesting things must have been omitted, when one looks at the size of the book. I’m sure many of these interesting tales can be found in his other works, but I have only read this and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I decided to add this review today because I started reading Gonzo and realized I should share my review of this one. Hunter is amongst the craziest most varied people I have had the pleasure of reading about. He can be brash and cruel and seemingly illogical, but he has keen observation skills as well as ample writing skills. He also describes himself as a teenage girl in a man’s body. He shows a strange lust for the spines of young girls. His ability to point out and produce absurdity is admirable. Excellent satire. I found this book thoughtful and wildly entertaining, even with the many political points. The Kingdom of Fear refers to old glory, the U S and A, and its decline into… well a kingdom of fear. One reviewer on amazon mentioned that the book repeats much that can be found in his earlier works. But if you haven’t read many of them, this should mostly be new and of interest. I recommend this for fans of the good doctor, but I believe that this book isn’t for everyone. I found the review by M Swanson on the amazon page to be great.