76 books like The Gonzo Papers

I found this book in college, and at the time, I thought it was the most unique book I had ever read.

Thompson’s “Gonzo Journalism” was fresh, funny, and thought-provoking, with a subtext of modern poetry, political activism, and a sense of humor I have never seen replicated.

It is written in a distinct, comedic, matter-of-fact voice that carries the reader through a fascinating narrative.

Set in Puerto Rico, the protagonist embarks on a Latin journey that is full philosophy and humour while making a statement on the times. It is the perfect book to take travelling, and worth re-reading every few years or so.

Sick, Carter’s White House adviser on Iran, offers a cogent, deeply insightful account of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the seizure of American hostages in Tehran, and the Carter Administration’s inadequate response to the unfolding crisis. In a later book, The October Surprise, Sick falls just short of proving that the Reagan campaign conspired with the Iranian government to delay the release of the hostages until after the 1980 election. But he is convincing in his claim that the truth in this sordid affair has never fully come to light.

The Camp David Accords brought enduring peace between Israel and Egypt after 25 years of war. Wright’s taut narrative—later adapted as a play—conveys just how close the summit came to falling apart. Along with normalizing relations with China, obtaining ratification of the Panama Canal Treaties, and advancing a path-breaking human rights policy, Carter’s triumph at Camp David suggests he was a better foreign policy president than many critics acknowledged at the time.

During one of my interviews, Carter told me that he had trouble expressing his emotions outside of his poetry. While Carter is not an outstanding poet, he succeeds here in offering glimpses of his inner life and fraught race relations in the American South. And he explores his relationship with his father, wife, son and others.

Carter has written a huge number of books, including a historical novel and a volume of poetry, but this one is definitely his best. Like Coolidge's, it’s simple, detail-driven, and always personal, capturing Carter's Georgia childhood and connecting it to bigger issues like the Great Depression and the Jim Crow South. There's a handful of shorter, more intimate books by ex-presidents—not only Carter’s but also Harry Truman’s Mr. Citizen and Dwight Eisenhower’s At Ease—and these books always read better and reveal more than their authors’ official presidential memoirs. I wish more ex-presidents would follow Coolidge in writing that punchy and personal book first, about their White House years. If they tried this approach, they would find that it makes everyone a winner—not just the presidents but also their readers.

Nothing beats an author willing to immerse himself into an outlaw world to get their perspective – until that world starts to literally beat the writer. Hunter Thompson’s first book is more of a journalistic work, examining the infamous biker gang from the inside than what would follow (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and so on.) He is very much part of the action at riotous parties, on bar stools, and alongside at motorcycle runs, but his first-person narration is an effective tool for revealing the Hell's Angels as independent people and as a fraternal organization. The writer and his subjects willingly project their images of unrepentant criminals. But when Thompson is on the receiving end of a gang beatdown, it’s a reminder that the line between outlaw and citizen can be hazy, and you might not know you’ve crossed it until blood’s being spilled.      

This novel is a strange triptych, with three tangentially connected parts that all have to do with the darker side of the '60s counterculture. I loved it.

One part is about the early days of the Rolling Stones, with the band members themselves as characters. Then there’s avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who made a movie in which Mick Jagger appeared alongside Bobby Beausoleil, who later joined the Manson Family. The third part is about the Manson Family itself, leading up to their inexplicable crimes.

The book engaged and compelled me in spite of (also because of) its disjointed nature—it’s beautifully written and a true work of art.

Forty years on, The Book of the SubGenius continues to mystify. Is SubGenius a joke disguised as a religion or a religion disguised as a joke? Either way, it’s hilarious.

I picked this book out at random at a bookstore and opened it to find a passage reading, “You probably think you may have wandered into a bookstore and picked this book out at random, but it was ordained that you would find this.” Spooky but intriguing.

I was taken in with the hilarious description of the religious teachings of award-winning siding salesman J.R. “Bob” Dobbs. The doctrine of the Church of the SubGenius is an incisive and unapologetic skewing of pop culture and religious dogma. Plus, tons of astounding artwork and demented collages to drive home the weirdness.

This title is the anomaly on my list. For one, it’s a collection of short stories rather than a standalone work. Also, there’s no overt psychedelia in it.

Nevertheless, I wanted to include it because many of the best stories in this collection have a gritty realism in them that gives way suddenly to moments of intense grace and spiritual insight. That insight may come in the form of brain damage after a boxing fight gone wrong, treatment for terminal cancer, or some other seemingly unfortunate turn.

But Jones has a gift for crafting vibrant, larger-than-life characters who know how to squeeze every drop out of vivid, absurd existence.