Rare Book of the Day – The Great Shark Hunt, Hunter S. Thompson. First Edition, Signed & Inscribed by Thompson.
Happy New Year everyone! For the first post of 2018 I'll share one of my favorites in my collection. This is the first of four Gonzo Papers volumes, which collected many of Hunter's harder to find essays and magazine articles. The Great Shark Hunt is notable in that the writings range from 1956 to the end of the 1970s, documenting his rise from Air Force and sports writing to the political and gonzo journalism he is most known for. This copy is the first printing, published in 1979 by Summit Books, with a fantastic inscription by Hunter on the flyleaf:
More info here: http://www.rarebooksleuth.com/featured/the-great-shark-hunt-hunter-s-thompson-signed-and-inscribed-first-edition-first-printing
This is indeed a rare treet. Had to share it with the Tweets and all over the internets including my latest JTS SteeMAGAZINE.
I have a few Hunter books. After College I read Fear N Loathing in a single car trip to Chicago from Champaign. Devoured his collection of letters.
Awesome, thanks! Yeah, I'm a big Hunter fan. At one time I had a signed first of Fear and Loathing. Unfortunately, it sold!
Wow! What a truly amazing piece. I know that I don't have to tell you that Thompson's signature is scarce. He simply did not like to sign. I am sitting not too far from where he used to live and hang out, and in 30 years I've only ever had two signed copies of his books. And believe me, I have searched. I know where a few others are, but they are not selling. Great find!
Thanks! Are you by Woody Creek?
I am. I spend a fair amount of time there, and I love the The Woody Creek Tavern. Met Hunter a time or two also - even I have some Thompson stories. He was the real deal...
That's wild. Is his cabin still there?
As far as I know, yes, though I have not been that far up the valley for a while. I was the County Weed Sprayer back in the day and I used to drive by it quite a bit. His spirit lives on though. I thought you might like this article https://www.aspentimes.com/entertainment/whats-next-for-hunter-s-thompsons-owl-farm/
Big Changes going on but sounds like in a good way...
What an awesome book! He is one of my all time favorite writers. Thank you.
Big Hunter S. Thompson fan here. Oddly enough, I tunneled through to him via his greatest science fictional doppelganger Spider Jerusalem. A unique individual and an endlessly entertaining writer with fiercely valid criticisms of the world around him.