The Joke's Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me
Steadman, who famously illustrated much of Hunter S. Thompson's work, wasn't along for the legendary ride to Las Vegas, but he was there at the birth of gonzo journalism in 1970, and he was there when Thompson's ashes were blasted out of a cannon in 2005. Here, alongside a generous selection of his drawings, he recounts their shambolic adventures together, from the Kentucky Derby to the Rumble in the Jungle to the Kona Coast. While Steadman's slashing, ink-spattered art seems the perfect embodiment of Thompson's booze- and drug-fueled prose, in temperament he was a foil, a Welshman who hated America, while Thompson, in his excess, was perhaps the quintessential American. Steadman genuinely admires his friend's writing but examines his character with clear-eyed honesty and corrects the record as he sees fit. Given the push-pull of their relationship, one wonders if Steadman--an author in his own right--will write his "own" memoir or if he'll be content to be on the record as the level-headed sidekick of the most mythologized journalist of all time. Funny and--unlike his subject--dry.Keir GraffCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.