By Kendra Hibbert
January 24, 2003
It seems these days that politics keeps leaning more and more to the right, what with the impending war on Iraq, the economic downturn and everyone still looking over their shoulder for the next terrorist. Luckily in these moments when Big Brother (in the Orwellian sense not bad reality series sense) is closing in for the kill, there are still a few people we can turn to for comfort.
Hunter S. Thompson is one of the more infamous and experienced fighters of authority still alive today (though how is still a scientific mystery). Now in his sixties, Thompson has seen a lot of changes over the course of his journalistic career. His book HELLS ANGELS launched his career in 1966, FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS introduced the world to his “gonzo” journalism and his newest book KINGDOM OF FEAR fills in the rest of the story.
Anyone familiar with Thompson’s writing style from previous books knows he doesn’t much like to stay on topic (if you want a first hand account of this phenomenon you need only look at his online weekly column Hey, Rube on ESPN’s Page 2 and count how little space is taken up by him actually writing about sports). But still, in this book of erratically penned collected writings, reoccurring topics emerge to form a somewhat coherent thematic whole -- a 350-page essay of sorts on Thompson’s life and the things he believes are worth fighting for. Part one (of three) traces his formative years starting with his most important life lesson when Thompson was barely a teen and received a visit from the FBI who told him to confess to the crime of tipping a mailbox in front of a bus. The way he tells the story, the young would-be journalist realized, just as he was about to comply, that without a confession the Feds would have nothing on him. He kept his mouth shut, escaped punishment and from that moment forth, Thompson realized the biggest key to getting through life as an outlaw is to never admit to anything.
This pivotal lesson in Thompson’s life has informed most of his writing. He’s never confessed which parts of his gonzo’d books are real and which are a result of too much acid. By doing so, of course, he’s been able to satisfy his larger-than-life persona in the minds of his fans and provide an easy excuse to the Feds when they come to prosecute him for the numerous crimes he writes about. The truth is and has always been that it doesn’t really matter if everything he writes about is true, since at the core of anything he makes up there is more truth than there would be if he just presented the facts. There is actually one very interesting section of KINGDOM OF FEAR which includes an article written by an outside journalist reporting on an incident between Thompson and his neighbor. Comparing this article to Thompson’s own version of what happened we can get a clear picture of the night in question – the straight facts from the reporter and a clear picture of what was at the core of the dispute from Thompson’s crazed, paranoid writings.
Most of this book is a collection of some of his greatest journalistic pieces, all related in one way or another to Thompson’s self-confessed “outlaw” existence. As he’s narrating his way from his birth to the present, he liberally lapses into the usual favorite Thompson topics – drugs, sports, women, drugs, fast cars, screwing with the law, politics, the state of the world, the state of the nation, the state he resides in (Colorado) and of course drugs.
What comes across most clearly from this book is Thompson’s focus on the overall picture – n the war between right and wrong. Though he might find himself from time to time on the wrong side of the law it is only because he is fighting for the greater good. The most remarkable articles in this book are the ones in which Thompson exposes the injustices he sees around him. Splattered throughout the book is Thomson’s account of his most recent run in with the law in which he was accused of assault and subjected to an 11-hour search of his home. Then, instead of pleading guilty and receiving a relatively lenient sentence of a small fine and community service for the additional charges of drug possession brought against him as a result of this search, Thompson launched a full scale attack on the irrational police invasion of privacy and ended up winning the case and being cleared of all charges.
With KINGDOM OF FEAR Thompson has put together a definitive look at his career and while it may be at times an insane, incoherent, highly improbable look at his life it is at other times the most rational, thought provoking, genuine writing you will ever read. Say what you will about Hunter S. Thompson’s books, no one can deny that they contain some of the most fascinating writing out there.
A somewhat younger, sassier friend to the subverted culture is sex advice columnist Dan Savage, whose controversial weekly column SAVAGE LOVE currently appears in newspapers across the country. Never one to shy away from telling any of his sexually curious readers off, Savage’s potty mouth responses to the twisted advice seekers who write to him are frequently seen posted up in hip, young offices everywhere. In his column, Savage is overtly gay and seems impermeable to shocking sexual questions. In his books – most recently SKIPPING TOWARD GOMORRAH – he’s somewhat more subdued.
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That is not to say that he isn’t controversial in his books. In this newest one, for example, Savage defends each one of the seven deadly sins – Sloth, Greed, Anger, Lust, Envy, Pride and Gluttony. In the interest of science he subjected himself to each one of these “deadly” sins and discusses how none of them is really so bad once you get to know them. He then uses the interesting facts he has found about these newly redeemed sins to point out the flaws in the arguments of the most fundamentalist Christian/right-wing personalities who have spent their career condemning all who even think of committing these acts.
The title, SKIPPING TOWARD GOMORRAH, is a direct parody of right wing political guy Robert Bork’s SLOUCHING TOWARD GOMORRAH: MODERN LIBERALISM AND AMERICAN DECLINE. In fact, Savage’s entire book reads like a point-by-point debate against the arguments Bork has against any or all of the deadly sins. Though I haven’t read Bork’s book (nor really care to read anything about him) Savage has kindly taken the time to bring up some of the major points of his adversary’s tome – most noticeably his anti-gay sentiments and the arguments he has against people living a happy, quiet existence if said happy, quiet existence offends him in any way.
The purpose of SKIPPING TOWARD GOMORRAH, Savage states in the introduction, is to defend every American’s constitutional right to the Pursuit of Happiness – even if pursuing that happiness means recreating “The Gimp” scene from PULP FICTION in the privacy of your own home. It’s a noble cause and Savage has some very intelligent, very valid points to each and every one of the sins he discusses. Unfortunately, his fixation on the words of his right wing opponents - Bork in particular - have turned this book into a political essay and one that after the Introduction really has nothing new or interesting to say on the topic of Sin. Granted his Introduction is one of the most intelligent discussions on human rights and the American Constitution I’ve ever read but to keep coming back to it again and again dulls the effect of his argument.
It’s hard to imagine someone taking a subject like Sin and making it boring, but there are times in this book when Savage does just that. If he had stuck to his original premise - discussing and defending sin – the result would have perhaps turned out more exciting. Indeed, when he’s writing about people/societies who indulge in the Sins on a regular basis it’s a fascinating look at the day-to-day life of a taboo culture. But when, in each chapter, he takes what he has learned and relates it to something Bork, or another right wing fanatic has said about the subject the book always hits a brick wall – and he does this in every chapter.
It’s difficult to watch this happening again and again in this book because the subject - and Savage himself - has always been so stimulating. I’m still a fan of Dan Savage and each of the seven sins - I just wish the pairing of these two would have produced more entertaining fruit. Here’s hoping he leaves his political discussions out of his continually provocative SAVAGE LOVE and sticks to the racy, sinful topics we all know and love.
Next Column: Okay enough with the non-fiction - it’s back to Sci-Fi with Michael Critchton’s PREY and Terry Pratchett’s NIGHT WATCH. Come back in two weeks to see The Return of the Sci-Fi Book Nerd!
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