
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 23, 1993                   TAG: 9305230171
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Reviewed by MARK LAYMAN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THOMPSON'S DUELING BIOGRAPHIES

The less Hunter S. Thompson writes, the more his fame grows. Now - in addition to Gary Trudeau's "Action Figure," the recently-published retrospective on "Uncle Duke's" appearances in "Doonesbury" - Thompson fans have three biographies to choose from. Here's our take:

\ WHEN THE GOING GETS WEIRD: The Twisted Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. By Peter O. Whitmer. Hyperion. $21.95.

Author's Credentials: A psychologist, Whitmer interviewed HST in '83 in the Florida Keys for his book "Aquarius Revisited." Now the object of a court order barring him from attempting to interview HST's octogenarian mother.

Book's Biggest Scoop: Interview with Marco Acosta, son of the late (presumably) Oscar Acosta, HST's "300-pound Samoan attorney" in the classic "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Sample Description of HST: ". . . He wore a diamond-patterned shirt out over his Levis. His liver is distended; if he dresses this way, it does not show."

Shocking Revelation: HST stole antique wood bureau from the Red Lion Inn in Durango, Col., two years ago.

Bottom Line: Long, revealing anecdotes of HST's speaking engagements (including one with Timothy Leary and Abbie Hoffman) and the night that Witmer and HST spent together in the Keys. Early life chronicled in numbing detail.

Grade: B

\ HUNTER - THE STRANGE AND SAVAGE LIFE OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON. By E. Jean Carroll. Dutton. $25.

Aut. Cred.: Veteran magazine writer, Carroll met HST at Elaine's in NYC in the early '80s and may or may not have had an affair with him.

Scoop: Interviews with Sandy, HST's ex-wife; actress Margot Kidder; and HST's younger brother, Jim.

Sample Des.: "As HST gets older, his girlfriends get younger. Usually them leave him to go back to school."

Shocking Rev.: HST occasionally hit Sandy when they were married; now enjoys frolicing in hot tub with inflatable doll.

Bottom Line: The most entertaining of the three, Carroll captures the spirit of gonzo in "fictional" chapters by her alter ego, Laetitia Snap. The best photos, too.

Grade: A

\ FEAR AND LOATHING; The Strange and Terrible Saga of Hunter S. Thompson. By Paul Terry. Tunder's Mouth Press. $22.95.

Author's Cred: As editor of Running magazine, Perry sent HST to Hawaii in 1980 to write a story that became "The Curse of Lono."

Scoop: Interview and cover art by Ralph Steadman, English artist and HST sidekick.

Sample Des: "On the coffee table were cigarettes, a joint, assorted pills, a bottle of Heineken, a glass of Wild Turkey. . . . As we spoke, Hunter took hits from each of them in turn."

Shocking Rev: HST once was "a secret health freak" who often ran the back roads of Woody Creek - but only late at night so as not to ruin his reputation.

Bottom Line: Knowing descriptions of what it's like to edit HST, but the book is marred by factual errors - he even got HST's birthdate wrong.

Grade: C+

Mark Layman is assistant metro editor of this newspaper and a veteran HST Watcher.

by CNB