The "Gonzo fist," characterized by two thumbs and four fingers, was originally used in Hunter S. Thompson's 1970 campaign for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado. It has become a symbol of Thompson and Gonzo journalism as a whole.
I was reading the biography of an author on the web, and it said he was a journalist, "mostly of the gonzo variety."
I'd never heard that before, so of course I looked it up.
According to Wikipedia:
Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written subjectively, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word Gonzo was first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style. The term has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.
Gonzo journalism tends to favor style over accuracy and often uses personal experiences and emotions to provide context for the topic or event being covered. It disregards the 'polished' edited product favored by newspaper media and strives for a more gritty approach. Use of quotations, sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and profanity is common.
Hunter S. Thompson
Thompson based his style on William Faulkner's idea that "fiction is often the best fact." While the things that Thompson wrote about are basically true, he used satirical devices to drive his points home. He often wrote about recreational drugs and alcohol use which added additional subjective flair to his reporting. The term "Gonzo" has also come into (sometimes pejorative) use to describe journalism that is in the vein of Thompson's style, characterized by a drug-fueled stream of consciousness writing technique.
________
Vocabulary: gonzo journalism
Crossword clue: Hunter S. Thompson. (Author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, inventor of Gonzo Journalism)
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