Written in 1959 when Hunter S. Thompson was just twenty-two, but not published until 1998, The Rum Diary follows freelance journalist Paul Kemp into the boozy, corrupt world of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the waning days of its newspaper boom.
Kemp falls for a woman entangled in a shady real estate scheme and gets pulled into a chaotic world of drinking, jealousy, and small-time grift.
It’s an early showcase for the voice Thompson would later hone in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: wild, funny, and clear-eyed about corruption. The book was adapted into a 2011 film starring Johnny Depp.
Published 2011
224 pages