Wed* ay12, 1993 -The Mdigm alySurm Weddy-9 BOOKS lb Hunter: The Strange and Savage Life of Hunter S. Thompson by E. Jean Carroll Penguin Books By DANCY LOCKNAM For the biography of Hunter Stock- ton'Thompson to bewritten in a tradi- tional format would be acontradiction in itself. Far from traditional himself, the drug-ridden, "gonzo" journalist author of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" would be nothing less than outraged were an aspiring biographer to pen the story ofhis life starting with, "Hunter S. Thompson was born in June ofl1935," or something of the sort. With this in mind, E. Jean Carroll *sets out to make Thompson proud, producing "Hunter. The Strange and Savage Lfeof Hunter S. Thompson." As to Carroll's success, well, lf Th- ompson were dead, as his doctors say he shoud have been years ago, he'dhbe rolling over in his grave. just about now.Ormayhehe'dhereaching outto pat Carroll on the back for creativity. It's hard to say with Thompson. Carrollhbegins thebiography under *the pretense of having discovered notes about'Ihompson in the armnsof Laetitia Snap. Every other chapter of the book, then, is Ms. Snap's narrative of her fictional escapades with Thompson. Written to mimic HSTs style, these chapters read like a female version of ma "Fear and Loathing:" Carroll writes, sj "He rolled thietop down. Then he put R his arm around me, and in addition, he dr had themostheautifulbloodshotbrown al eyesyoueversaw.Oh,thoseeyeswere le perfect mud poois! And thick, hairync black eyebrowsikeahawkowl.Ionly hi noticed them after the four or five sucks on the marijuana pipe:" Although amusing in light of the fact that Carroll does the Thompson impersonation so well, like a typical "Saturday NightLive'skit, the bit gets old real fast. This portion of the book, no matter how outrageous and cre- ative, wears on the nerves. Give Carroll the credit dueher for taking arisk with thisoriginabiographicalmethodThen skip these chapters, the odd numhered ones, in effortto learnsomething about the life of Thompson. Whlle this bit does not make the book worth even checking out of the library, the intervening chapters (the even numbered ones) warrant its read- ing by any true Thompson buff. In this portion of the biography, Carroll takes another innovative, yet fortunately more appealing approach. Rather than simply narrate the life of Thompson from event to event, Carroll includes portions of newspaper articles about HST as well as wide ranging excerpts from herown interviews with Thomp- son, his friends, his family and just bout everyone who ever had contact vith this infamous writer. Through the quotes, Card lreveals helayers of Thompson's life through nany dlfferent eyes, insa way that a Ingle voicebiographyould never do. eading these quotes feels lice eaves- h ping on HST's friends and getting 11 the dirt in the process. What we =nmabout Thompson is enthrallinglif ot surprising: that he was abusive in us personal relationships, that he had a difficult childhood, that many n- siftrhim oneof the truestof tneNew Journalists. Still, the way Canuol re- veals his life makes these chapters cap- tivating. She obviously didherresearch and the work pays off "Hunter The Strange and Savage Llfe of Hunter S. Thompson" braids two books into one, and in orderto make it through the gond parts a bit of unbraiding becomes necessary. Un- tangle abitof Camrll's stab at ouiginal- ity n the form ofone Laedda Snap and read the rest But don't he too hard on Carrol. She is onlytakingthe advice offerer! y herhero'sthekxricalquestion"Whois the hapierm, he ohbraved t stcam of life and lived, orbhe whobhas stayedsecureiyontheshomdmerely existed?" Still, one can't heiphutob- serve that Carrlimighthave been abit better off sticking somewhat closer to the shore. SHARON WIAM TOM STONE xBERENGER YOU LIKE TO WATCH I Paramount Pie ures,.J~1obert Evanspu.o Sharon Stone Wlliamn Baldwin TomnBerenger SLIVER Martv Landau s m Howard Shore'!ZVi imn Sexton .Willlam J. Macdonald ' Richard Francis-Bruce Paul Sylbert 4y4'ihmos Zsigmnond, asc "Howard W.Koch, Jr. .dJoc Eszterhas & Ira Levin "'Joe Eszterhas ""411ohert Evans RE~ ONTAKABUMEDA ALE ON Pdi~td'Npoyce A armount ommiminations ompany IR I_ FFEWR AU READ THE BANAM BOOK NaC t0 ! vrr ai ยข ae Thompson in an alarmingly dragfree moment of repose.