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Gonzo journalism is a highly subjective and extremely personal form of reporting. While Dr. Thompson's writing style has not changed dramatically since the sixties (although his form has), the first piece of writing to be called gonzo was The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved written for Scanlan's and illustrated by the Welsh cartoonist Ralph Steadman. As the deadline approached, and with his article still not done, Dr. Thompson resorted to ripping pages out of his notebook and send them to the editors. What resulted was "gonzo", as Bill Cardoso called it. (Gonzo is really an Italian word for absurdities - gonzagas. Cardoso claimed it was a corruption of the French Canadian word "gonzeaux" which means "shining path". To my knowledge, no such word exists).

FLLV CD coverFear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream followed in 1971. It has become a cult classic and was recently turned into a CD recording. F&L is a failed experiment in gonzo journalism. Thompson says this himself. He had intended it to be a record of everything he did as it happened, and unedited. Thompson rewrote and edited F&L five times!

Gonzo journalism has been called outlaw journalism, literary cubism, new journalism and other words I can't repeat here. Many see it as an offshoot of the New Journalism movement in the sixties, led primarily by Tom Wolfe. In other words, NJ breaks all the rules of traditional journalism. This, however, is not exactly true. The changes in journalism made at the beginning of the 20th century is the original NJ. Some people argue that NJ really isn't new, since objectivity has been the great myth of journalism. As hard as media sources try to be objective, they can never truly achieve it. Everything from space limitations to illustrations infringe on objectivity.

Gonzo journalism is characterized by the use of quotes, sarcasm, humour, exaggeration, and profanity. Dr. Thompson bases his style on William Faulkner's idea that "the fiction is often the best fact". While the things that Dr. Thompson writes about are basically true, he uses satircal devices to drive his points home.

Another feature that makes it unique is that true gonzo writing is unedited. A notorious misser of deadlines, Thompson often drove editors nuts because he often faxed articles late, too late to be edited but just in time to make the printers. Dr. Thompson sees the fax machine, or "Mojo Wire" to be the ultimate communications instrument, as one can send information anywhere in seconds.