Many would like a ringside seat to the life of Hunter Thompson, but Jay Cowen provides something more: he puts you in the ring. Cowen was not merely an observer, but a friend and confidant for over three decades. Part of this time he actually lived on Thompson's Colorado compound. The writing and chemical consumption that made Thompson famous are all here, but so are many moments when Thompson wasn't playing to his reputation, so that in the end we have an intimate portrait of the man, good and bad. The book's epigram, from Voltaire, says, "One owes respect to the living: to the dead one owes only the truth." That's exactly what you get here.