Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s

by Hunter S. Thompson

Overview

From the bestselling author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the legendary Hunter S. Thompson’s second volume of the “Gonzo Papers” is back. Generation of Swine collects hundreds of columns from the infamous journalist’s 1980s tenure at the San Francisco Examiner.

Here, against a backdrop of late-night tattoo sessions and soldier-of-fortune trade shows, Dr. Thompson is at his apocalyptic best―covering emblematic events such as the 1987-88 presidential campaign, with Vice President George Bush, Sr., fighting for his life against Republican competitors like Alexander Haig, Pat Buchanan, and Pat Robertson; detailing the GOP's obsession with drugs and drug abuse; while at the same time capturing momentous social phenomena as they occurred, like the rise of cable, satellite TV, and CNN―24 hours of mainline news. Showcasing his inimitable talent for social and political analysis, Generation of Swine is vintage Thompson―eerily prescient, incisive, and enduring.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780743250443
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	11/06/2003
Series:	Gonzo Papers Series , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	364,208
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.44(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His books include Hell’s Angels, Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72, The Rum Diary, and Better than Sex. He died in February 2005.

Date of Birth:

July 18, 1937

Date of Death:

February 20, 2005

Place of Birth:

Louisville, Kentucky

Place of Death:

Woody Creek, Colorado

Education:

U.S. Air Force, honorably discharged in 1957

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review His writing, ever feisty, proves again...that he is one of our most incisive, insightful, and hilarious social critics.

The Detroit News Thompson's style is still as sharp as it was when he pistol-whipped America into seeing the logic of his doomed, drug-induced vision in Hell's Angels and later in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Houston Chronicle At his best he has the kind of trenchant, mordant wit of H. L. Mencken and Mark Twain.

William F. Buckley, Jr. Indisputably a hugely important sociological phenomenon.

From the Publisher

Mr. Thompson calls the present generation a ''Generation of Swine.'' With that phrase as his title and premise, he takes no prisoners. A reader can go through the 300-plus pages of the book and look in vain for qualifying journalistic words. Mr. Thompson doesn't write measured prose. It's - well, gonzo.
— The New York Times

Herbert Mitgang

Thompson may be correct in assuming that the greed and immorality pervading the American social landscape are obscene, but his surreal, half-demented style has hardened into a pose. These columns from the San Francisco Examiner prove only that journalism can become dated quickly. The author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas calls Colonel Khadafy smarter than Ronald Reagan and takes potshots at television news, Gary Hart, Ed Meese, evangelists, Michael Dukakis, Pat Robertson and the Iran-contra hearings. He predicts that the Democrats will self-destruct in the 1988 presidential campaign. People he dislikes are described as ``money-sucking animals,'' ``brainless freaks,'' ``geeks,'' ``greed-crazed lunatics'' and so on. Thompson's flaccid diatribes seem designed to instill a sense of smug superiority in the reader. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Thompson's outrageous reporting style, called ``Gonzo journalism,'' was the rage in the early 1970s. The protest generation cleaved to his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ( LJ 8/72) and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ' 72 ( LJ 6/1/73), both genuinely funny and often perceptive social and political commentaries. This new effort, a collection of 100 short pieces originally published as a column in the San Francisco Examiner over the past two years, tries to recapture the old ebullience, but much of it falls flat. Still, Thompson's fansthere are manywill savor his wild words on Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, Al Haig, Ollie North, George Bush, TV preachers, et al. Kenneth F. Kister, Pinellas Park P.L., Fla.

Library Journal