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In fact, Thompson was only 22 when he wrote The Rum Diary, but his fear of winding up like Moberg was well founded. What saved him was the fantastic conflagration of the 1960s, a fiery wind on which the reptilian wings of his prose style could catch and soar to the cackling heights of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Puerto Rico in 1959 doesn't have bad craziness enough to offer Thompson--just a routine drunken-reporter stomping by local cops and a riot over Kemp's friend's temptress girlfriend, a scantily imagined Smith College alumna who likes to strip nude on beaches and in nightclubs to taunt men.
Thompson's prose style only intermittently takes tentative flight--compare the stomping scenes in this book with his breakthrough, Hell's Angels--but it's interesting to see him so nakedly reveal his sensitive innards, before the celebrated clownish carapace grew in. It's also interesting to see how he improved this full version of the novel from the more raw (and racist) excerpts found in the 1990 collection Songs of the Doomed (available on audiocassette, partly narrated by Thompson). --Tim Appelo --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
MY apartment in New York was on Perry Street, a five minute walk from the White Horse. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good lost novel and a great view of San Juan,
By Jon Konrath "Jon" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Rum Diary: A Novel (Paperback)
This is the "lost novel" by Hunter S. Thompson, a book that he started writing in 1959 to make a quick buck. He struggled all through the sixties to get this thing rewritten and published, but because of its quality and Thompson's legendary shakedowns with agents, publishers, and contracts, it died on the vine - until a few years ago. This quasi-fictional account of a New York reporter drifting into a job at the San Juan Daily News is somewhat based on Thompson's experience on the Carribean island in the late 1950. Trying to put Puerto Rico on the literary map like Hemingway did for Paris, he spells out a story of corruption, boredom, and alcohol in a more simple San Juan, before the big booms of the travel booms and technology of the sixties. Paul Kemp, the fictional narrator, describes the coworkers, women, natives, and insane government, riddled with syndicates and kickbacks. The writing here isn't like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - it's more of the Orwell/Mailer/Miller genre, and does a good job of painting memorable scenes of the insanity, camaraderie, poverty, and drunkenness on top of the tropical backdrop. It's not bad stuff, and I wonder if it recently went through heavy rewrites, or if there just wasn't a market for it back in the sixties. Either way, it's a light, fast read at just over 200 pages, and made me wonder if Thompson's other unpublished work would be as satisfying in a trade hardcover. Maybe someday?
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Neverending Classic - The Rum Diary,
By
This review is from: The Rum Diary: A Novel (Paperback)
The Doctor of Journalism finds the American Dream in the most unlikely of all places in Hunter S. Thompson's, The Rum Diary. Not only does Thompson portray the American Dream in an alcholic frenzied environment, but finds it in Puerto Rico. Although this is not a typical Dr.Gonzo prose, The Rum Diary confronts conformity and shares a few drinks with him. A simple tale of middle-aged journalist, trying to find out the meaning of his existence, while at the same time, traveling thru exotic lands. This is honestly one of the best books that i have ever read. After getting through the first couple of chapters, i found that i couldnt put it down. If anything, this novel has the same type of storyline as in Hemingway's, 'The Sun Also Rises.' Anyone who rates this book under five stars, doesn not know what they are talking about.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Down but not OUT... A Worthy First Book,
By Joshua Glaser (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Rum Diary: A Novel (Paperback)
Before one could even start thinking about criticizing this novel, one should take into account that it has been written by a 22 year-old Hunter S. Thompson, before he actually became so familiar with heavy drinking and drugs. It is also his first novel; therefore it is understandable that a person who has already read his other books would regard it with a certain leniency, expecting a naive piece of work.It turns out this is really not the case... the author seems to describe with great accuracy the experiences of a man who looks back on his early years as a journalists and regrets having wasted his life. There is a sensation of loss and defeat throughout the whole book that at least I would believe, requires a great deal of experiences in life to be able to grasp and translate into words. Thompson deals with these descriptions very skillfully, making the reader fear the same fate as the main character. As far as the story goes, Paul Kemp, a young journalist in his early 30s takes an assignment for a new job in the San Juan Daily News, an English language newspaper in Puerto Rico - this place where "men sweat 24 hours a day". The life is easy in San Juan, but the more time he spends there, the more a fear of being stuck there forever takes over him. He feels he's missing out on something by not going to a more happening Latin American city such as Mexico or Buenos Aires. There's also a constant menace that the newspaper will fold and all the employees will lose their jobs from one day to another. Despite his young age, Kemp looks back at his life and concludes he should have taken more out of it instead of acting like he was invincible; this feeling has long left him and he resorts to heavy drinking and making various considerations about his future without necessarily acting to change his condition. Many of his colleagues are in the same situation; although most of them realize they are losing their time in this city, something seems to hold them and prevent them to leave, even if they lose their jobs. Perhaps it is the heat and humidity that oppresses these men and prevent them from acting or making the right decisions about their respective futures, much like in Camus' The Stranger. This lack of opportunities for their future lead the protagonists into a self-destructive and reckless series of events. They talk about leaving, but the constant rum drinking blurs their plans and leads them to once again postpone their plans. Time is running out for Paul Kemp, but he still acts like he has his whole life before him. A very inspiring novel, The Rum Diary is a great contrast to the usually optimistic novels involving young people in search of the American dream, who are ready to take on any challenges to succeed. Paul Kemp has been defeated; actually, he has retired from his fighting to succeed. By signing such a great book at the very beginning of his career, Hunter S. Thompson has laid the ground for his more daring later works. A good novel, but try it for yourself. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," a funny, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
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