This is Hunter S. Thompson's recollection of his perception of the 1960s and a portrait of a writer of huge intelligence who is forced to live as an outsider, with rage and humour as the only tools with which to force his way in. Hunter S. Thompson's work includes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail and Better than Sex. Much influenced by Hemingway, George Orwell, Jack Kerouac, Tom Wolfe and Ken Kesey, he is the founder of 'gonzo' journalism, which is essentially injecting fiction into journalism in order to give the reader a truer vision of the subject-matter. His books have all been written in gonzo form, usually with him as a central character. This volume contains the best of his letters from 1955 to 1967 (age 17 to 29) and is, therefore, his first work of non-fiction and the closest thing to true autobiography that will every publish. Readers learn that rather than being simply a genius, hopelessly addicted to drugs and alcohol, Thompson is a high-minded man, whose rage and drug-taking derive from his clear-sighted understanding of how much better the world - in particular America - could be.