Book: Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson
Album: Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
Gonzo was a hard book to read. It was all about Hunter Thompson, the stories got repetitive. Every page was soaked in Chivas, caked in coke, and burnt with cigs. He seemingly treated everyone badly and then was way too nice and generous to make up for it. It was very interesting to get past the outlandish attitude and get bits and peices of what Hunter might actually have been. I think that people were way too generous with their praise for him. I read Hell's Angels and the Vegas one and bits and pieces of the others. Other than the first two I was not blown away by anything he wrote. He wanted to be the next Hemingway but he wasn't able to write short fiction like Hemingway, nor did he have Hemingway's dedication and discipline it sounds like. It certainly interesting to watch the myth be stripped away from the man.
The new Hold Steady album is pretty great. For a band that had an album inspired by Kerouac there songs resemble more of Thompson's spirit. The albums filled with characters that are constantly getting drunk, getting arrested and can't get out of their own way. I once heard that the difference between Springsteen and Tom Waits characters are how recently they showerd, these characters are the bastard kids spawned from those songs. They have been going at it for long enough now that the characters seem to reappear as if they were in a Faulkner story or Kevin Smith movie. Long as they keep rocking and not attending their AA meetings I will keep listening.
Album: Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
Gonzo was a hard book to read. It was all about Hunter Thompson, the stories got repetitive. Every page was soaked in Chivas, caked in coke, and burnt with cigs. He seemingly treated everyone badly and then was way too nice and generous to make up for it. It was very interesting to get past the outlandish attitude and get bits and peices of what Hunter might actually have been. I think that people were way too generous with their praise for him. I read Hell's Angels and the Vegas one and bits and pieces of the others. Other than the first two I was not blown away by anything he wrote. He wanted to be the next Hemingway but he wasn't able to write short fiction like Hemingway, nor did he have Hemingway's dedication and discipline it sounds like. It certainly interesting to watch the myth be stripped away from the man.
The new Hold Steady album is pretty great. For a band that had an album inspired by Kerouac there songs resemble more of Thompson's spirit. The albums filled with characters that are constantly getting drunk, getting arrested and can't get out of their own way. I once heard that the difference between Springsteen and Tom Waits characters are how recently they showerd, these characters are the bastard kids spawned from those songs. They have been going at it for long enough now that the characters seem to reappear as if they were in a Faulkner story or Kevin Smith movie. Long as they keep rocking and not attending their AA meetings I will keep listening.
No comments:
Post a Comment