Outlaw journalist - William McKeen

A serious writer, a revolutionary stylist, an artist who broke down barriers between fact and fiction, Hunter S. Thompson changed the way we think about journalism. His writing continues to entertain decades after it was published, through the sheer power of his supercharged style. His deep love for America informed everything he wrote, and his heartbreak when America disappointed him was devastating. Thompson’s masterpiece, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, is a classic of New Journalism, portraying the frenetic and furious adventures of Duke (the author’s alter ego) as he journeys to Sin City with his crazy lawyer and a trunkful of drugs to report on a motorcycle race. The book was adapted into a cult film by Terry Gilliam with an all-star cast including Johnny Depp. Professor of journalism William McKeen became friends with Thompson after writing a monograph on his work. He has interviewed many of the writer’s associates who would not speak before, from childhood friends to assistants at his Colorado home, getting behind the drink and drugs to reveal a charismatic figure who was happy to be considered an outlaw but took the calling of journalism as his vocation. Outlaw Journalist is the definitive biography of this compelling American icon. William McKeen is the author of Highway 61 and editor of Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay. He lives in Florida.