Reviewed by Alan Choate

Billed as a memoir, Kingdom of Fear combines autobiography, self-serving praise, news articles and freakishly over-the-top anecdotes to make a case that Hunter S. Thompson is an Outlaw. (He’s always used uppercase letters to denote Universal Truths, and when he calls himself an outlaw, he means it with a capital "O.") Thompson has a lot of very timely points to make about the gentrification of American politics, the erosion of privacy, and the overreaching, Orwellian nature of modern law enforcement. Two narratives in particular help make these points — the story of his near-beating while covering the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and his recent, successful fight against being railroaded on flimsy drug charges in his Colorado hometown.

That’s Thompson at his best — an incisive, clear-eyed observer and analyst blessed with bedrock Everyman sensibilities. He also, however, spends a lot of time in Kingdom of Fear ranting about pedophilia, drug-fueled naked partying, his tenure in the Sex Industry, guns, explosives, Clarence Thomas on a drug-hooker-violence spree in Elko, Nevada, and so on. Some of this material connects to the book’s larger themes, but it really serves only to bolster Thompson’s Outlaw credentials. That’s frustrating. Doctor Gonzo probably still has a lot to say, but it seems he’s more concerned these days with his public image than being edited.

Kingdom of Fear is worth reading. It does not match the standard Thompson set for himself with Hell’s Angels or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but you can’t expect genius all the time, and there’s enough insight and strong writing in this book to warrant at least checking it out from the library.