Continuum Gonzo Republic: Hunter S. Thompson's America

Gonzo Republic looks at Hunter S. Thompson's complex relationship with America. Thompson was a patriot but also a stubborn individualist.Stephenson examines the whole range of Thompson's work, from his earlyreporting from the South American client states of the USA in the 1960sto his twenty-first-century internet columns on sport, politics and 9/11.Stephenson argues that Thompson inhabited, but was to some extentreacting against, the tradition of American individualism begun by the Founding Fathers and continued by Emerson and Thoreau. Thompson sought out the edge-the threshold of chaos and insanity-in order to define himself. His characters enact the same quest, travelling through the surreal landscape of his literary America: the Gonzo Republic. Review "Stephenson is on the money. There is a need for a serious, academic study of Hunter S. Thompson. Stephenson's thematic approach is perfectly suited for the purpose of the book. Though he takes a serious, scholarly approach, Stephenson's writing is extremely accessible. I think Thompson would approve." William McKeen, Professor and Chair, Journalism Department, Boston University, USA, and author of Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson (W.W. Norton, 2008)."Gonzo Republic is a first-rate critical examination of Hunter S. Thompson's fierce literary output and social activism. William Stephenson has a fine grasp on all things Thompson. His defense of Curse of Lono is truly inspired. Mandatory reading for anybody interested in the Doctor of Journalism." Douglas Brinkley, editor of The Proud Highway and Fear and Loathing in America About the Author William Stephenson is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Chester, where he teaches modernist and postmodernist literature. His publications include John Fowles (Northcote, 2003), several book chapters and articles in journals including Critique, Journal of Cultural Research and a/b: Auto/Biography Studies.