Hunter wasn’t the only writer, or indeed creative artist, to do this and he recognised that same quality in a host of his contemporaries – people like Ken Kesey, Kurt Vonnegut, Allen Ginsberg, Keith Richards, William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady – they all had that same outlaw ethic, they were the Outlaws of the Counterculture, the doomed romantic outsiders living outside of the law on their own terms. Which was much more potent quality than any association he had with the New Journalism movement, Hunter was bigger than that, and he went beyond being just a journalist and a writer. I think he explained it best himself when he said – ‘Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men’s reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of “the rat race” is not yet final.’ Hunter’s own life exemplified the meaning in that very quote. This is why in the long run I believe that Hunter S. Thompson will be recognised as the most unique writer amongst those of the New Journalism movement. I think his contribution will stand as far greater than the likes of Wolfe, Talese, Didion and even Capote.
So to get back to the question, I think that Gonzo, when taken in terms of Hunter’s life and work, is very much relevant as a present day philosophy. Look at how Hunter lived his life, there is a myriad of lessons there, articulated through his actions and through his writing that would serve anyone well should they choose to pay attention. The latter is of course crucial, which is why so many miss the point of what Hunter S. Thompson stood for. Too many people just choose to see it as an excuse to run amok in a drug induced frenzy. Those that actually read the words and pay attention to what Hunter was actually saying are ultimately rewarded with a treasure trove of wisdom on what it means to be an individual in a society doing its best to strip you of any semblance of our inherent uniqueness. We are living in a 24/7 orgy of consumer culture blandness and groupthink mediocrity, what Hunter asks us is to not only reject this, but to challenge it at every available opportunity. The status quo is a terminal disease that traps you before you know it. The Gonzo way recognises this and can help you avoid that trap, that awful white picket fence 2.5 children world that is sold to us from every magazine stand and daytime soap opera, no wonder so many people end up drugged to their gills on the latest pharmaceutical candy, they think that if they haven’t achieved this packaged vision by their early thirties that they are a failure at life. Horrible, horrible…
Ok that was a morbid kind of tangent I went off on there so let’s get to the next question.
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