[.ca] The Curse of Lono (ISBN 3822848972)

Among His Best:
I would be surprised if this book does not get reprinted. I had my first copy "stolen" when it disappeared into the loaned book abyss. I recently bought an out-of-print used copy from a local dealer, via Amazon, and two months later the author killed himself. Now, it's a little expensive. If you can get your hands on a copy, I would rank the writing among his best work in the fictional/gonzo genre. He actually wrote this saga after two visits to Hawaii. The marathon coverage is brilliant. The characters, including his own wife, are bigger-than-life and funny as hell. The transition from a reporter covering a marathon to a man having a vacation with his wife and friends really has to be studied to be appreciated. The slow but inevitable decent from humour to insanity is captivating, witty and enormously funny. When Thompson was motivated to make himself laugh, he did a great job. This was one of the books that he had friends reading aloud to him in his kitchen prior to his suicide. I do not rate Lono his best work, especially not when you know this author was capable of the kind of gritty realism that he lashed together in books like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, but it is a true gem. You cannot appreciate Hunter Thompson's late-life writing style without it.

Why is this great Hunter S. Thompson book gone out of print?:
I wonder why "The Curse of Lono" has gone out-of-print. This book is laugh-out-loud funny and is good journalism. No, it is great journalism. So says the experts too: the author's work has been elevated to the classics with one of his books being printed in an Everyman's Library hard-cover edition. So Hunter S. Thompson joins Oscar Wilde and other great writers. "The Curse of Lono" made me laugh so hard that tears filled my eyes. Hunter S. Thompson was paid to cover a marathon race by Rolling Stone or some other magazine. While the race is the usual bore, the antics of the journalist are not. Having drunk gallons of beer and liquor and consumed various illegal drugs, Thompson and his traveling companion sit at the edge of the race and jeer on the racers. "He fatso. What's wrong? That hill is too steep for you?" Flying on a jumbo jet to the race in Hawaii Thompson gets his arm stuck in a chemical toilet. He put his hand down there because his marijuana, cocaïne, or whatever falls into the toilet bowl. When he comes out of the head his arm and his shirt and stained bright blue. The airliner's crew know at once what has happened. The funniest part of the book to me is what happens when Thompson goes fishing. The captain of the boat drinks a quart of vodka and then takes some mescaline or some other hallucinogenic drug. A the boat bobs precariously close to the cliffs along the island the captain lets go of the anchor line and it falls overboard. The captain then dons scuba gear in his tripping, hallucinating state and dives overboard to retrieve it. As Hunter S. Thompson puts it, "No self-respecting captain would return to port without his anchor" for fear of being laughed at. All of this talk of drugs and drink might be pathetic or sad if it was not handled properly. But Thompson is the founder-and maybe only participant in-the style of writing and journalism that he calls "gonzo journalism". His style is truly unique. I became convinced of his genius after reading "Fear and Lothing in Las Vegas", another drunken, stoned adventure tale and a memoir that he wrote in "The New Yorker" magazine. His New Yorker article deviating from his usual tone-perhaps owing to it's presence in that hallowed forum--was a well-written and very interesting look at his days living in Puerto Rico as a journalist. I think his books on presidential politics are less interesting than these two books. I haven't yet read "Hells Angels" but plan to do so.

Best description of marathon madness I have ever read.:
Prior to reading this book, I had dismissed the author as someone who just got loaded and made up a bunch of stuff. However, the first few chapters of Lono represent the best description of marathon madness of those times that I have ever read (I finished 6th place at the 1983 Honolulu Marathon). His insightfulness into carbo-loading parties and the running divorce lead me to believe that he first did his research sober and then crawled off to finish the book.It has given me a lot of new respect for Gonzo Journalism.And Steadman's manic drawings of a perfect match.

A must-read for HST fans:
Excellent transition novel for Thompson, prior to his total retreat into drug psychosis or whatever it is that stopped the presses. Excellent historical references to Hawaii, far fewer drug anecdotes than some would like and heavily stylized. I love the book and have dog-eared my copy. New writers/journalists take note of the amount of research that HST relies upon, even when he is walking way out on the limb of fantasy. This is a quick read.

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Another hit by Thompson. If you don't get enough from the name or the assurances of fellow fans, you probably should start on other Thompson, not here.