But not here. I am glad to be rid of this book. It is like a bracing dose of ether on Monday Night in a Crack House. The very sight of it fills me with queasiness and shame. To read it and believe that it might be True is to wallow in the depths of personal and professional degradation.
Okay. That’s about it, for now. Never send me a book like this again.
Thanx,
Hunter
Res ipsa loquitur.
__ __ __ __
Laughter in the Dark
In 1991 Hunter, seemingly spontaneously and after a lengthy hiatus from long-form writing, began faxing large chunks of copy—or “pages,” as he referred to them, always “pages”—to the office. I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of these pages, and ritually read them aloud to my boss, Bob Love, and whoever else might gather around. The story that began to emerge was both simple and complex, hilarious and disturbing; essentially, it involved Hunter witnessing a car crash in the Nevada desert and finding that the man driving the car was Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas—who at the time was still sitting for his controversial Senate confirmation hearings amidst allegations of sexual harassment. Hunter and “the Judge”—who was traveling with two hookers—essentially fled, and spent the rest of the story locked in a twisted cat-and-mouse game with both each other and the long arm of the law. But to describe what became “Elko” as a story about Clarence Thomas is like calling the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry, Baby” a song about a drag race: technically correct, but short on inspiration.
—Corey Seymour
Letter from JSW to HST
October 29, 1991
VIA FAX
Hunter S. Thompson
Owl Farm
Woody Creek, CO 81656
Dear Hunter:
Time is running short and I’m getting worried. You have one big insert to write and a couple of transitions and it all has to be done this week.
Please call me asap.
All the best,
Jann
JSW/mm
Letter from HST assistant Deborah Fuller to JSW
2:32 pm
Tuesday 10.29.91
To: Jann
From: HST
OK—HERE ARE THE FIRST 5 PAGES/RAW COPY (OF THE 8 OR 9 PAGES) HUNTER HAS COLLAPSED FROM FATIGUE.
THE OTHER PAGES WILL BE FAXED OVER WITHIN THE HALF HOUR.
Best.
Deborah
Letter from JSW to HST
October 30, 1991
VIA FAX
Hunter S. Thompson
Owl Farm
Woody Creek, CO 81656
Dear Hunter:
Get out of the car. Get off the road. I know how you drive. Do the hotel scene. Without this, we don’t have a piece. There are two nights left.
Call me when you get up.
No more driving. Orgy, please.
Best,
Jann
JSW/mm
Letter from JSW to HST
November 1, 1991
VIA FAX
Hunter S. Thompson
Owl Farm
Woody Creek, CO 81656
Dear Hunter:
Keep going. It continues to be terrific stuff. You still have to get us to Leach at the trailer court and then, escape from Elko, i.e., the airport farewell, which needs to be pretty brief.
We’re almost home.
Love,
Jann
JSW/mm
Letter from HST to JSW
Friday 11/1/91
Dear Jann,
There is no hope for the satisfied mind. We all know that—but it don’t worry us, eh? Or not me, anyway. No. My problem is a Diseased mind, and a body so wracked with death-germs & festering, backed-up poisons that I can barely speak or talk or even think in a straight line for more than 40 or 50 seconds at a time ... Yes. I am deeply Sick & Wrong in many basic functions. Cazart!
For this reason I must know immediately if the Real Deadline for this Elko piece is NOW or next week or maybe sometime in March, when I expect to be recovered ... I can get it finished & roughly wrapped by Sunday, but that will be a nasty drain on my health & it will also require some Skilled edit/assistance from yr. end. Ho, Ho. As in SUBHEADS, Bridges, Continuity, etc. If you know what I’m saying. Yes. So pls. let me know instantly on this, so I won’t have to destroy what remains of my fragile health for nothing. Please.
Thanks,
Hunter
Letter from JSW to HST
December 13, 1991
VIA FAX
Hunter S. Thompson
Owl Farm
Woody Creek, CO 81656
Dear Hunter:
After the last minute, I have decided to go for an Elko cover. Ralph is sending in a portrait of you he has already done for this purpose. We should have it Sunday. If it suits, then it’s a go.
Here are the cover heads. If you can improve them, please do ... but not at any great length.
FEAR AND LOATHING IN ELKO
By Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
A Wild and Ugly Night with Judge Thomas ... Sexual Harassment Then and Now ... A Nasty Christmas Flashback ... A Nation of Jailers . . .
All best,
Jann
JSW/mm
Hope you’re pleased! I am!
Xxx J
Fear and Loathing in Elko
January 23, 1992
Dear Jann,
Goddamn, I wish you were here to enjoy this beautiful weather with me. It is autumn, as you know, and things are beginning to die. It is so wonderful to be out in the crisp fall air, with the leaves turning gold and the grass turning brown, and the warmth going out of the sunlight and big hot fires in the fireplace while Buddy rakes the lawn. We see a lot of bombs on TV because we watch it a lot more, now that the days get shorter and shorter, and darkness comes so soon, and all the flowers die from freezing.