How wrong is it that Hunter S. Thompson was one of the reasons I wanted to become a journalist? It had less to do with taking mescaline mixed with acid, and more to do with his passion for people and the amazing things he had to say.
Besides penning the term "Gonzo Journalism" (involving yourself so much in a story that you become part of the outcome), Thompson was known most for the tape recorder he carried with him. He was often seen hungover in a coffee shop, mumbling his thoughts into its tiny mic, just in case his dwindling brain cells caused him to forget them later.
The independent publishing house Shout! Factory doesn't want you to forget them either, so they're releasing a 5 Disc CD of Thompson’s ramblings titled
The Gonzo Tapes.
The recordings were found in his (first) wife's basement in Colorado, where they’d been ever since his suicide in '05. You'll hear descriptions of the year he spent riding with Hell's Angels, what really happened in that Cadillac with his Samoan lawyer, and an unpublished assignment for Rolling Stone he called
The Cocaine Papers. Whether you're a budding journalist or just an everyday drug enthusiast, this promises to be very easy listening.
--LYZ MANCINI
About $60 for five discs at Barnes & Noble