High White Notes: The Rise and Fall of Gonzo Journalism

 High White Notes is the first in-depth analysis of the complete writings of Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most misunderstood authors of the 20th century. His Gonzo journalism was an odd fusion of fact and fiction that garnered widespread adoration but perhaps for all the wrong reasons.
In this book, David S. Wills traces the outlaw journalist's life from birth to death, exploring how Thompson developed his unique literary voice and why he used such odd techniques to craft a form of prose that defied categorization. This book not only explores Thompson's meteoric rise to literary superstardom but also charts the rapid decline in the quality of his work that came after his 1972 foray into political reporting.
This book dispels a great many myths about Thompson’s life, analyzes his work as never before, and asks difficult questions about his work. By cutting through the legends and exploring Thompson’s deliberate hybridization of fact and fiction, Wills aims to set the Gonzo author in his proper literary context, alongside other greats of the 20th century.