On "Generation of Swine" by Hunter S. Thompson ****

There are turns of phrase that make Thompson a fun read for that purpose alone. Like so many of his books, however, the overall reportage remains dated, and because Thompson puts such a personal twist on everything, it's somewhat uncertain how much is really of value as historical record.

This book covers the last half of the Reagan years, including the Iran-Contra scandal and the election of George H. W. Bush. As with Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail of 72, Thompson's preference for the Democrats is obvious, though his preferred candidate gets knocked out by a sex scandal. All this is stuff in living memory for me, which perhaps made it somewhat more interesting than his work about the McGovern candidacy. Still, because these are collections of newspaper articles, the whole seems less than the sum of its parts, and I didn't find myself pulled along in the book as I would a long-form piece.

When Thompson is at his peak, his editorial is less about current events and more about something else. My two favorite articles in this text, and the likely reason I kept this book on my shelf after first reading it decades ago, focus on making up a story and on giving advice. In one, Thompson sends his assistant out to get a tattoo so that he has something to put in his column; in the other, he writes about the youngsters and having children for his good buddy, the illustrator Ralph Steadman. As the years left for me on this planet wind down, however, I don't see myself rereading this book again.