Hunter S Thompson did not suffer 'lame, half-mad bulls**t’ copy gladly
'Do you take us for a gang of brainless lizards?'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.If you find yourself editing and suggesting revisions for a piece of commissioned writing which you still intend to actually use, you might want to consider keeping your criticism constructive.
But not Hunter S. Thompson, who in a 1973 letter labelled the writer a “lazy c**ksucker” and suggest he get his “worthless ass back to the typewriter”.
This wasn’t any old reporter either, but Anthony Burgess, the author of 33 novels including A Clockwork Orange, 25 non-fiction books and stacks of poetry, short stories and symphonies. Oh and he spoke nine languages.
As the fantastic Letters of Note details, Burgess found himself struggling to write a thinkpiece while in Rome that he’d promised Rolling Stone, so instead suggested “a 50,000-word novella I’ve just finished, all about the condition humaine etc.”
“Perhaps some of that would be better than a mere thinkpiece,” he mused.
He got this response:
Larger photo here
Esteemed though Burgess may be, Thompson raged: “What kind of lame, half-mad bulls**t are you trying to sneak over on us? When Rolling Stone asks for ‘a thinkpiece’, goddamnit we want a f**king Thinkpiece.”
We shouldn’t have expected anything less from Thompson though, just take a look at his daily routine.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments