Book excerpt: Hunter S. Thompson was the creator of a new kind of journalism and invented a new style of writing. Gonzo was a wild, often drug- and drink-fuelled adventure, in which Thompson examined the politics, people, and values of his times. In the three great collections of Gonzo writings, The Great Shark Hunt, Generation of Swine, and Songs of the Doomed he dissected the 60s, 70s, and 80s with violence, wit, anger, and occasional compassion. Collected together for the first time, The Gonzo Papers Anthology is an indispensable compendium of decadence, depravity, and a remarkably skewed common sense. 'Hunter Thompson elicits the same kind of admiration one would feel for a streaker at Queen Victoria's funeral' William F. Buckley 'No other reporter reveals how much we have to fear and loathe, yet does it so hilariously' Nelson Algren