Book Review: Kingdom of Fear
No paranormal romance books to review today. Sorry!
Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century by Hunter S. Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was my book club’s most recent selection. Not only that, but the book club member who selected the book was my husband, so I felt obligated to like it.
I’ve also been a fan of Hunter S. Thompson for ages, so I felt that I would probably enjoy it, regardless of who chose the book. I was not wrong. I read it in one sitting.
Reading HST makes me simultaneously feel happy that I never did the drugs and sad that I never tried those drugs. He does seem to have had such a good time.
Although some book club members thought that the way the main story (how he was charged with sexual assault when a porn producer came to his house) was interspersed with all the other stories was distracting, I thought it was great. I felt that the style would be exactly like listening to his story in person, and that made me happy.
I loved all the side essays and letters and recollections. I, too, would love to prank deliver an elk heart to Jack Nicholson and go to Cuba with Johnny Depp. I would NOT enjoy the sheep incident and subsequent drug-addled travels with the crazy Judge, however.
The best part of the book was the way the theme consistently came back to the importance of the Fourth Amendment and HST’s constant good fight to keep authority from encroaching upon it. I think that, especially in this digital age, it’s easy to lose sight of “unreasonable” is, especially if one is in a position of power.
So – buy it for the stories and amusing anecdotes but don’t lose sight of the true message.
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