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Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century (Hardcover)

by Hunter S. Thompson (Author) "My parents were decent people, and I was raised, like my friends, to believe that Police were our friends and protectors-the Badge was a symbol..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Allen Lane (29 May 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0713997141
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713997149
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 426,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #36 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Thompson, Hunter S.

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Product Description

Product Description
In his memoir, Hunter S. Thompson looks back on a long and productive life. It is a story of crazed road trips fuelled by bourbon and black acid, of insane judges and giant porcupines, of girls, guns, explosives and, of course, bikes. He also takes on his dissolute youth in Louisville; his adventures in pornography; campaigning for local office in Aspen; and what it's like to accidentally be accused of trying to kill Jack Nicholson. Alongside this "depraved and terrifying adventure", Hunter S. Thompson explores the darkness at the heart of America today.

About the Author
Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. His books include Fear and Loathing in America, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Proud Highway, Better Than Sex and The Rum Diary. Dr Thompson lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colorado.
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First Sentence
My parents were decent people, and I was raised, like my friends, to believe that Police were our friends and protectors-the Badge was a symbol of extremely high authority, perhaps the highest of all. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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 (4)
3 star:
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2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to be a Dr myself, but I didn't have the patience, 27 April 2004
By A. Sharratt (Suffolk, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century (Paperback)
Hunter S. Thompson isn't a despicable man. He's not wicked, depraved oreven immoral. Quite how anyone could glean that he was after readingKingdom of Fear is utterly beyond me. In fact, you'd have to bebreathtakingly ignorant and misguided not to finish this book withoutholding Thompson in very high regard indeed.
You might not agree withhis unreserved castigation of The Bush family. You'll probably frown atThompson's casual references to illegal drugs. You've every right todisapprove of his fondness for firearms. He is, by his own admission, anOutlaw, but you will surely still finish this book extolling hisimpeccable virtues as a vicious, ferocious protector of Justice, Honestyand Human Rights - three qualities being rapidly eroded in modernsociety.
The key to the appeal of this book, and of Thompson as anauthor and journalist, is the quality of his writing; sharp and caustic,often rambling but always articulate and soulfully expressive. Sure - itcomes at you fast and you might not pick it all up. But don't worry - juststrap yourself in and prepare to be sucked in to a weird, hallucinogenicworld where nothing, nothing is the least bit normal.
Sweet ValleyHigh, I know you're going to enjoy it, friend. Trust me.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect prose, 1 Mar 2005
By T. Bently "tbently" (Berkshire, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century (Paperback)
I was in the biography department of a bookshop thinking that I didn't really need to read another life of Jane Austen when a display of Hunter S. Thompson's paperbacks caught my eye. It's a tenuous link but a friend of mine was an extra in the film adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", so I picked up a copy of KoF and was blown away.

Right at the beginning where Thompson describes a childhood meeting with the CIA and again at the end when he's involved in a car crash, the author writes what I can only describes as perfect prose,

"All these things have happened and probably they will happen again. I have learned a few tricks along the way, a few random skills and simple avoidance techniques - but mainly it has been luck, I think, and a keen attention to karma, along with my natural girlish charm."

I have no interest in drugs, fast cars or pimps yet, as with all great writers, it hardly matters what they take as subject matter since they have you in the palm of their hands. Thompson not only tells you about his mad life, he takes you there. This is a classic of non-fiction writing, gonzo journalism at its peak.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Large Dose of (almost) Classic HST, with Mescal on the side, 12 Jun 2003
Hmmm, where to start with this? Those seasoned HST readers among us will know better than to expect anything on a par with F&L in Las Vegas or any of his earlier efforts, so the question remains: How badly does this measure up against those classic works? And the answer is: Taken on its own merits it's a good book, BUT... obviously it can't compare to Hells Angels & F&L.
Thompson's last 'proper' book, was 1994's "Better than Sex", which frankly wasn't. His letters collections have made for interesting reading, and this latest follows along the same route. However, be warned that A Lot of the stuff in here is basically rehashed retellings of HST 'adventures' that you've probably read elsewhere, though everything in it is better than his dashed off sports columns for ESPN.
Buy this book, in spite of its faults you won't regret it. Proof that the fun still hasn't quite stopped in Owl Farm. Selah...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I just love this book
Yes, "Kingdom of Fear" jumps about - Hunter's brain flies off at tangents that are incomprehensible to all but his rationale. Read more
Published 5 months ago by E. Outhwaite

5.0 out of 5 stars loathing of the fear
The book wad of pages adhesive and in conclusive. The book that has an insignia on the front cover.
Kingdom of fear is the book, that every young blood, or decrepit... Read more
Published on 6 Jul 2007 by .Richard

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen to the doctor
Since watching the Depp movie, every time I read a HST book, I imagine the words flowing as Depp spoke them... Thompson uses prose like no other. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2007 by Craig Baxter

4.0 out of 5 stars Repeat Perscription of Loathsomeness from the Good Doctor...
Loathsome. Indeed. Loathsome is an adjective that has become intrinsically linked with Dr. Thompson since the appocalyptic 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars Fear and Loathing...still going.
So, the memoirs of the man who has never said no.

Yet HST still manages to compile a selection of some of his best bits of work with seemingly no effort at all, some of it I had... Read more

Published on 14 Aug 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Still gonzo after all these years.
I laughed out loud while reading HST's latest. Although I didn't for a minute believe the story involving a mountain lion and a fire on the back seat of his car, it cracked me up... Read more
Published on 14 Jul 2003 by R. N. Owen

3.0 out of 5 stars Hunter has lost his touch
Hunter S. Thompson, the godfather of every rock'n roll writer in the World, and for my money The Coolest Man Alive has published his autobiography. This should be great! Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2003 by Gunnar Gran

5.0 out of 5 stars Nihil Obstat.
Well, this is an interesting book. To be perfectly honest, there is not a great deal here that regular fans of Thompson, having read his books and biographies, will not know, but... Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2003 by Graham Rae

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