Brian Kevin (1)

As role models go, one could not choose one much more problematic than the late Hunter S. Thompson, whose alcohol- and drug-crazed escapades were, largely through his own words, legendary. As a journalistic example, though (those conditions notwithstanding), one could not do much better, and that is what travel writer Kevin has done, literally and literarily following in the footsteps of the young Thompson, who was working at that time (1962) for the National Observer. It was in South America, Kevin states, “that Thompson developed that razor-edged understanding of the dying American dream.” Kevin wants, like Thompson, to develop a keener grasp of the U.S. by tracing the pre-gonzo Thompson’s path, from Colombia to Brazil. Kevin is, like his model, an observant and witty, if inexperienced, writer; this is fine, historically well-researched travel writing in the tradition of Bruce Chatwin as well as in that of the youthful and restrained (partially thanks to dysentery) Thompson.… (mere)

In 1963, Hunter S. Thompson at the age of 25 spent a year traveling across South America. The author Brian Kevin has written his story of his tracing the path of Hunter S. Thompson. So many years later many things had changed and a lot was still as it was so many years ago. The main river, The Magdalena, has been ignored by the government so much that parts of it had changed courses and filled in with silt. I had not read any of Thompson's work so I could not really compare the two. I did enjoy reading about the people, travels, and other adventures that Mr. Kevin made and he did let the reader know what Mr. Thompson had thought about at the time of his travels. Very well written book.… (mere)