Hunter S. Thompson Books In Order

Publication Order of Fear and Loathing Books

Publication Order of Fear and Loathing Letters Books

Publication Order of Gonzo Papers Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of The Last Interview Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an american author and journalist. He is, arguably, best known as the founder and pioneer of Gonzo journalism. Hunter’s lifestyle, combined with his distinctive passion for writing and his unique, personal and realistic approach to prose is what’s made him one of the most influential authors of his generation.

Early Life – Middle Class Safety and Descent Into Poverty and Rebellion
Hunter S. Thompson was born in 1937., in Louisville, Kentucky, to a middle class family. His parents, Virginia Ray Davidson and Jack Thompson married in 1935. and had three children – three sons, with Hunter being their first born child. But, the idillyc life of the Thompson family unfortunately didn’t last too long. When Hunter was only 14 years old, his father Jack died of mysthenia gravis. This event shaped and formed Thompson’s life in many different ways, but it also forever changed the life of his entire family. Virginia Thompson, Hunter’s mother, began heavily drinking after her husband’s death, which left the entire family in poverty. Young Hunter was so deeply affected by this that he turned into a rebel and somewhat of a social outcast. All of this can be seen in his literature later on, but he had to go a long way before becoming a famous and respected author.
During high school years Hunter excelled in sports, especially baseball, but that didn’t keep his interest long. Somewhere around this time Thompson developed an interest in literature, especially after reading J.P. Donelavy’s The Ginger Man. Thompson was even a member of a school-sponsored literary and social club the Athenauem and regularly contributed articles to the club’s yearbook.
His interest in literature seemed to be short-lived at the time. Young Hunter soon turned to crime and was charged as an accessory to robbery, he was sentenced to 2 months in prison. He was released after 30 days and once he got out he decided to sink every single boat in the local harbor and shortly after that he decided to join the United States Air Force. While he was in jail the school refused him permission to participate in final exams and he did not graduate.
Military Service and Early Journalism Career
Thompson initially applied to be an aviator, but he was turned down. During his military service he moved from San Antonio to Illinois to study electronics, but soon after that he moved to Florida where he started taking evening classes at the Florida State University. It is around this time that Hunter landed his first professional writing job – he worked as a sports editor of The Command Courier. To get the job, Thompson lied about his job experience.
After his relatively short stint as a sports editor and columnist, Thompson was discharged from the Air Force in November 1957. His commanding officer elaborated the early honorable discharge by describing Hunter as talented, but unable to adhere to the rules.
After being discharged from the army Hunter S. Thompson decided to move to New York City. Soon after he landed a job at the Time magazine and started working as a copy boy, but that didn’t last too long either. He got fired for insubordination. After getting fired at a few more jobs Hunter decided to move to South America and start working as a sports journalist there. He spent the next part of his life going back and forth between USA and Southern America and, in Brazil, married his long-time girlfriend Sandra Dawn Conklin. The couple moved back to the United States and that is when Hunter immersed himself in the drug and hippie culture that was developing in San Francisco. At this time he started writing for the cult underground paper The Spyder and later on The Nation.

Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
After writing a story about the notorious Hell’s Angels motorcycle club for The Nation, Hunter S. Thompson received several book offers, which lead him to spend the next year living with the infamous, California-based biker gang. After spending a year with the gang he released his first book Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. The book received widespread critical acclaim and turned Hunter into somewhat of a celebrity in the literary world.
Following the success of his first book Hunter started writing and publishing short stories and articles for numerous magazines including: The New York Times, Esquire and Harper’s, to name a few.
His unique, personal and gritty approach to journalism and writing in general is what’s become the genesis of and gave birth to the so called Gonzo journalism and this is something Thompson will forever be remembered by and famous for.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
In 1971. Hunter S. Thompson spent a lot of time with close personal friend Oscar Zeta Acosta. The two often made trips to Las Vegas and this is when Hunter started working on his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, arguably his most famous work.
The story follows two protagonists, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo as they party their way through Las Vegas in a drug-induced daze, trying to chase the American Dream. Soon after it came out, the novel became notorious for its descriptions of drug use, decadence and debauchery, but it still remains one of the most important works of it’s time.
The incredible subjective blend of fact and fiction, prominent in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas it, according to many, the primary example of Gonzo Journalism.

Later Years and Death
After the success of his second novel Thompson continued working as a journalist. He traveled the world and continued writing, but his work started to suffer after his trip to Africa to cover the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Thompson missed the match completely and stayed in his hotel room getting intoxicated. The rest of the 1970s weren’t much different for the author. He traveled the world and continued writing for numerous magazines and publications, while further descending into alcohol and drug abuse. All of this continued throughout the next two decades. Thompson wrote and published, but failed to repeat the success of his early work.
On February 20th 2005. Hunter S. Thompson was found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head in Woody Creek, Colorado. Hundreds of people, from musicians and actors to renowned politicians, attended his funeral, which was funded by Hunter’s close personal friend, actor Johnny Depp.