Harcourt, Inc.
Available: 09/29/06
6.12 x 9.25 · 352 pages
978-0-15-101282-4
CDN $29.00 · cl

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The Joke’s Over

Bruised Memories of GONZO: Hunter S. Thompson and Me

Ralph Steadman

foreword by Kurt Vonnegut

The Joke’s Over tells the story of the legendary friendship and remarkable collaboration between artist Ralph Steadman and Hunter S. Thompson: a wild look at the turbulent 1970s and the crazed arc of Gonzo journalism.

Steadman and Thompson pioneered the Gonzo movement together, embracing the notion that journalists should forsake standards of accuracy in order to capture the mood of a place or event. Capturing the essence of their collaboration, Steadman takes readers through the Civil Rights movements, the Nixon years, campaign trails, Watergate and other great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. He ends with the news of Thompson’s suicide in 2005.

Having known Thompson for over 30 years, Steadman has an abundance of stories about their adventures together. This is also a more deeply personal look at Steadman’s own life than is seen in his other illustrated books. There will be other books about Hunter Thompson but nothing as authoritative, as uncensored, as truthful or as entertaining as Steadman’s.

Ralph Steadman (England) has illustrated countless books, including Hunter S. Thompson’s legendary Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the 50th anniversary edition of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. He has written several books, including The Grapes of Ralph, which won a Glenfiddich Food & Drink Award, Still Life with Bottle and The Book of Jones.