A Curse of Lono

by Hunter S. Thompson

Book Overview

A wild ride to dark Americana: Hunter S. Thompson's and Ralph Steadman's most eccentric book The Curse of Lono is to Hawaii what Fear and Loathing was to Las Vegas: a journalist's news event "coverage" that ends up an unclassifiable twist of fiction and reportage, myth and crazed surrealism. Featuring all of the zany, hallucinogenic wordplay and feral artwork for which the Hunter S. Thompson/Ralph Steadman duo became known and loved, the book was...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553345230
• ISBN13: 9780553345230
• Release Date: November 1983
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

The Curse

If your curious on why this book is so expensive, it's not because it's a rarity, it's because the thing is so giant. If I had to place a measurement I'd say its a good foot and a half long with another foot or so wide. It's so full of color and life on every page including letters from the man himself and tons of amazing drawings. Highly recommended for the HST followers.

An unknown classic

This books is probably the least well-known of HST's books. But it was a very pleasant surprise upon reading it. It is classic Thompson, self-destructive, paranoid, and hilarious. If you take his word for it, you might never visit Hawaii yourself!

Fear & Loathing in Honolulu ^_^

As a major fan of Fear & Loathing Las Vegas, I thought no book could compare. Think of my shock when I heard about this book. A book set in Hawaii AND it's written in that same Fear & Loathing, Hunter-ish style! It's true what they say about this "lost" book. Flown down to write about The Honolulu Marathon, The Curse of Lono (which is in all honesty part fact & fiction) is his best: very funny, interesting writing - and very informative on Honolulu itself as well. True that last! He did not just come down here to Honolulu to drink and do drugs and write whatever was left floating in his brian. Hunter did SOME research on the culture and history of the Islands. Here, for ex., we learn that Lono is the Hawaiian god of fertility. HST is the master of details. Seeing things that others may have missed. This is what makes him a great writer. A great observer. And along with the fictional The Rum Diary, he also has an awesome, imaginative eye. This book will hold your attention and expand your imagination (which is very important to me), and your funny-bone. A good book is an extension of a writer's persona. And just like Fear & Loathing, The Curse of Lono does that in spades. Even BETTER in this book. It's insane and surreal with its creative descriptions, and the art work is just amazing. I hunger for more Lono... ps: Be ready for the film version, produced by Sean Penn, coming soon!

Hawaii Will Never Be the Same

Hunter is the creator and king of gonzo journalism. Here is a quote from Thompson about what Gonzo journalism is:"My idea was to buy a fat notebook and record the whole thing as it happened, then send in the notebook for publication-- without editing. That way, I felt the eye and mind of the journalist would be functioning as a camera. The writing would be selective and necessarily interpretive - but once the image was written, the words would be final; in the same way that a Cartier-Bresson photograph is always (he says) the full-frame negative. No alterations in the darkroom, no cutting or cropping, no spotting . . . no editing. This is a good book, full of funny moments and hard to believe stories. There is no slow build up or filler in the middle. The book grabs you from the beginning with the author's stories and keeps you laughing until the end.This might not be a good first book to start with. Hunter's style and actions may be hard for some to read without getting offended. Sometimes Hunter will wander into side tangents before getting back on track with what is currently going on; this may annoy some people. I recommend starting with "Hells Angels" or "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" before paying the extra bucks for this out of print book.

Thompson-Steadman harmony at its best

From the blue-armed freak, to the demonic fire-glowing night in The Land of Po, this is essential HST. Throw in the Honolulu Marathon, and the good doctor serves up a characteristic glimpse of his own weird Americana that calls for all other social critics to throw down their pens in reverence and futility. This book is Thompson-Steadman harmony unparalleled. Steadman's illustrations are hallucinogenic masterpieces that complement the fury of Thompson's writing. If you call yourself a devotee, don't leave a hole in your library where this book belongs. It is pure visceral madness. The final scene stakes its claim with any of his best works and is nothing short of what those of us who care have come to know as life-blood joy and the frenzied understanding of more than a few generations of enlightenment. Read it. Now