Hunter S. Thompson - The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel

Pros: It'll make you wanna go buy some rum.
Cons: You'll go broke buying rum.

Okay... I don't necessarily know why everyone reviewed the audio version of this novel, but it seems to be getting more hits than the actual book...

First off, I'm no good at reviewing books, so before you all start clicking away on that oh so...

Pros: awesome imagery
Cons: None

Hunter S. Thompson has garnered a reputation for living on the edge -- tripping (literally) through life and careening towards certain death, only to veer off just in time, collect consciousness, and write about what he saw. His most famous work,...

Pros: Great insight in life by a very young author, straightforward style.
Cons: A tad pessimistic.

Before one could even start thinking about criticizing this novel, one should take into account that it has been written by a 22 year-old Hunter S. Thompson, before he actually became so familiar with heavy drinking and drugs. It is also his first novel;...

Pros: A time capsule of Hunter S. Thompson in his pre-mescaline days
Cons: Aimless, unpolished writing

I was introduced to the writings of Hunter S. Thompson about a year ago via the near-perfect movie version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Since then, I've wondered what I ever did without Thompson's brand of drug-crazed, "gonzo...

Pros: evokes emotion, great reading, fast paced,
Cons: hmmmm

The Rum Diary is, yet another twisted novel by the King of Gonzo. This book will leave your heart racing. The lead character, Paul Kemp, is a man who feels he's out of luck in a foreign land with a horrible lust for a friend's...

Pros: Great story, great descriptions
Cons: Too short!

Rum Diaries is a book you can easily sink into. Hunter S. Thompson's descriptions of 1950's Puerto Rico (mostly San Juan) are as lush as the tropical surroundings. From the first page, you can feel the heat, humidity, and franaticism of San Juan in the...

Pros: very involving and entertaining book
Cons: a little too much self-introspection

Technically, this book was written long before his other novels, but for most of the literary world it is considered a new book. I'm not completely sure why.

Thompson wrote the Rum Diary when he was in his 20's, when he was young and...

Pros: excellent read
Cons: too short

Fans of the good doctor were let into a treat when this book was published.
It's interesting to go back and read an author's first works because you can understand more about them.
In this case we find Hunter in The Rum Diary as an almost...

Pros: A work of Hunter Thompson that you can follow without being on drugs.
Cons: Makes being drunk all the time sound like a feasible way to live!

After trying to follow his articles in Rolling Stone, I was wary of any Hunter S. Thompson book when a friend suggested The Rum Diary. He proved me wrong - this book interested me from the first sentence and was engaging the entire way through. An...

Pros: High Literary Form
Cons: Ex-Cons Thank you very much

This is a fine book and anyone who has to qualify or justify their feelings in order to admit that to themselves ought to just stop reading right here.

Hunter S. Thompson is one of our nations finest writers and is very often given little...