The Curse of Lono

Toronto: Bantam Books, 1983. Third printing [stated]. Trade paperback. Very good. Ralph Steadman. The format is approximately 7 inches by 10 inches. 158, [2] pages. Illustrated cover. Illustrations (some in color). Minor front cover weakness at spine (gently restrengthened with glue). Name of previous owner (John Schwab) in ink on half-title page. Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 - February 20, 2005) was a journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of Hell's Angels, a book for which he spent a year living and riding with the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional magazine feature titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which established his counterculture credibility. It also set him on the path to establishing his own subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a journalistic style in which the writer becomes a central figure and participant in the events of the narrative. Thompson remains best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a book first serialized in Rolling Stone in which he grapples with the implications of what he considered the failure of the 1960s counterculture movement. In 1980, Thompson relocated to Hawaii to research and write The Curse of Lono, a Gonzo-style account of the 1980 Honolulu Marathon. Extensively illustrated by Ralph Steadman, the piece first appeared in Running in 1981 as "The Charge of the Weird Brigade" and was later excerpted in Playboy in 1983. The book was reprinted in 2005 in a signed, limited edition, then more widely re-released in 2014. Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture books. He was voted Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1979. The Curse of Lono is to Hawaii what Fear and Loathing was to Las Vegas: the crazy tales of a journalist's "coverage" of a news event that ends up being a wild ride to the dark side of Americana. Curse features all of the zany, hallucinogenic wordplay and feral artwork for which the Hunter S. Thompson/Ralph Steadman duo have become known and loved. This curious book, considered a rarity among Hunter's oeuvre, prompting collectors to search high and low for an original copy such as this is. The Curse of Lono is a book by Hunter S. Thompson describing his experiences in Hawaii in 1980. Originally published in 1983, the book was only in print for a short while. Hunter S. Thompson receives a letter from the editor of Running magazine, asking him to cover the 1980 Honolulu Marathon, which the editor says should be "a good chance for a vacation". Thompson asks the illustrator Ralph Steadman to accompany him. On the flight over, he meets a man named Ackerman, who seems to have connections to the drug trade in Hawaii. Thompson covers the marathon with his characteristic gonzo style, weaving his own experiences into the coverage of the story. After the marathon, Thompson along with Steadman and his family move to a rented beach side compound on Hawaii's Kona coast. The weather is miserable and they are trapped indoors, besieged by huge waves. Steadman and his family, upset about the terrible conditions of their vacation, return to England. Later, Thompson reunites with Ackerman to go fishing. Thompson eventually catches a huge Marlin, which he beats to death with a Samoan war club. The fishing boat returns to the dock, with Thompson screaming triumphantly, "I am Lono!", referring to the ancient Hawaiian god which upsets the locals, and he goes into hiding in the City of Refuge. It is possible that this copy was owned by the renowned member of the rock band McGuffey Lane, one of the most popular and successful bands to come out of Ohio, which was still playing in 2022, nearly a half century after it was formed.