Kingdom of Fear

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Kingdom of Fear; Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child In the Final Days of the American Century was the last book by Hunter S. Thompson, published in 2003. The story focuses on many of the same themes as the author's earlier works, including rebellion against government and law enforcement and excessive and unconventional drug usage.

[edit] Plot summary

It seems to begin as memoir or an autobiography, but the book rapidly devolves into numerous fragmented exploits of Thompson's which could be termed as a type of 'Gonzo Biography.' There is a rough adherence to actual chronology, but many events in the book are not in chronological order, and some (such as his alleged rape/assault case with Gail Palmer) are fragmented across the book.

In addition to autobiographical stories, Thompson includes a variety of other works in the book, such as his "Rules for Driving Fast." Here is an example (#3), which begins like this:

• No. 3 - Have no small wrecks. If you are going to loop out & hit something, hit it hard. Never mind that old-school physics bullshit about Irresistible Force & the Immovable Object.

Or rule #5, which ends with the following advice:

• The smoking of oily hashish is optional, and in truth Not Recommended for use before driving at speeds up to 150mph in residential districts. The smoking of powerful hashish should be saved until after yr. return from the drive, when nerve-endings are crazy & raw.

He also includes many fragments that were obviously penned whilst under the influence of psychotropic drugs, or written to look that way. One deranged chapter lasts only a page-and-a-half. It is a letter, allegedly written by a girl named Xania, but obviously written either by Thompson himself or a fan with an extremely good imitation of his style. In the letter, the 8-year-old 'Xania' begs Thompson to send her plane tickets so that she can "scream and dance on your [Thompson's] lap while my mother watches."

This reverse-pedophilic rant continues for approximately half a page until the girl notes that, If the sea had brains, I would suck them out. But I can't. The sea has no penis. She then goes on to ask Thompson why this is, if he is so smart, and begins an angry rant at Thomspon himself, finishing that she loves him and must have the plane tickets.

[edit] Major themes

Writing and punctuation themes are more pronounced in 'Kingdom of Fear' than in many of Thompson's previous works. In particular, he habitually uses the following alterations:

• The addition of a number in numerals in brackets after printing the number as word, such as, "but when you are a nine-year-old boy with two (2) full-grown FBI agents..."

• The use of the ampersand instead of the word 'and' when he is using 'and' as a word to connect two adjectives, such as, deranged & insane

• The use of the abbreviation 'yr.' instead of the word 'your'.

• The capitalization of nouns deemed important to the author: "...an eerie sense of Panic in the air, a silent Fear and Uncertainty that comes with once-reliable faiths and truths and solid Institutions that are no longer safe to believe in..."