This book charts the election year of 1972 here in the good old US of A. From the democratic primaries to the presidential campaign everything is documented. Sounds like an absolute yawn-fest I'm sure. However, when told through the eyes of Hunter S. Thompson, this book becomes something altogether more interesting.
For any fans of that other "Fear and Loathing" book, let me start by saying that you should not go into this book expecting to read about continual psychoactive mayhem. There's some of that, of course, as Thompson seems unable to function unless engaging in at least medium-level debauchery, and Christ knows you'd probably need to be off your tits to deal with some of these people, however the one thing that often gets lost in the Hunter S. Thompson legend is what a humanitarian the man was. That and the fact that he was an absolutely brilliant writer.
What makes this book such a fascinating read is that it is U.S. politics from the outsider looking in. The average, rational-thinking man wondering what on earth the circus before him all means. Every page oozes empathy and a, some would argue, deluded hope for the people. As the ill-fated John McGovern pits his wits against king reptile Richard Nixon, it becomes a classic tale of good vs evil which is hard not to get caught up in. Now, at the time of printing this might have been considered propaganda as the book obviously favours McGovern, however in light of what became of Richard Nixon's presidency, most of it is instead eerily prophetic.
It also goes to show what an absolutely monumental, confusing, and thoroughly thankless task it is for a man of any shred of integrity to go against the machine. By the time you've shook all the hands, given all the speeches, dusted off the slander, climbed every mountain only to get pounded by some slabbering, vacuous non-human in front of the world's media, it's enough to wonder why anyone ever bothers at all.
If you've got any interest at all in what goes on behind the scenes during that time those odd, sharp-suited, shiny-toothed bellends are all over your TV screen (i.e. right now) then I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
"If the current polls are reliable, Nixon will be re-elected by a huge majority of Americans who feel he is not only more honest and trustworthy than George McGovern, but also more likely to end the war in Vietnam. The polls also indicate that Nixon will get a comfortable majority of the youth vote. And that he might carry all 50 states. This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it - that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesman with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody in the world who makes us feel uncomfortable. The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes, understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon. McGovern made some stupid mistakes, but in context they seem almost frivolous compared to the things Richard Nixon does every day of his life, on purpose. Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to become president?"
(Excerpt from "September, 1972")
Peace and love,
JB.
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