In March 1974, Hunter S. Thompson traveled to Cozumel, Mexico, where he spent time researching and working on material that would eventually appear in The Great Shark Hunt. Published in 1979, the sprawling collection became one of Thompson’s largest and most important books, gathering his writing on everything from Richard Nixon and Watergate to Las Vegas, drugs, politics, war, and the strange excesses of American life. Drawing from his years at the National Observer, Rolling Stone, and elsewhere, the collection also includes the legendary 1970 piece “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,” the story that helped give birth to what became known as Gonzo journalism. Blending reporting with autobiography, savage humor, political outrage, and Thompson’s unmistakable voice, The Great Shark Hunt captures both the madness and contradictions of America during the turbulent 1960s and ’70s.
