The Proud Highway

Before there was Gonzo, there was just plain Hunter -- a precocious, earnest, and occasionally troublesome honor student in Louisville, Kentucky. Before there was Doctor Thompson, there was Airman Thompson -- the military's answer to Grantland Rice, protecting America by covering sports for his Florida base's newspaper. Before there wasFear and Loathing,there was Dow Jones -- that is, Thompson's early reportage for that company'sNational Observer, which raised the standard for hip and provocative foreign coverage. Before there wasRolling Stone, there were job applications everywhere -- in hopes of being hired by a paper, pretty much any paper, an obsession for the starving writer with expensive tastes in alcohol, nicotine, and room service. InThe Proud Highway, readers will find a Hunter S. Thompson they've imagined but never known. With the publication of these extraordinary letters, written from the time of his high school graduation in 1955 through the triumph of his first book,Hell's Angels, in 1966, critics and fans can finally trace the development and maturation of a singular talent, one of our era's most important voices. How Thompson changed the face of contemporary nonfiction -- and of America itself -- is the mesmerizing story ofThe Proud Highway.Thompson, Hunter S. is the author of 'The Proud Highway', published 1999 under ISBN 9780517455036 and ISBN 051745503X.