The only fiction penned by Hunter S. Thompson—and the inspiration for the film of the same name starring Johnny Depp—this early novel came from Thompson's stint as a journalist in San Juan, although it went unpublished for four decades. In it, Paul Kemp has moved from New York to the steamy heat of Puerto Rico to work at the Daily News. He starts hanging out at Al's Backyard, a local den selling booze and hamburgers to vagrant journalists who are mostly drunk and crazy and always on the verge of quitting. Then he meets Yeamon, whose delectable girlfriend has Kemp stewing in his own lust. But the idle tension that builds up in countries where men sweat 24 hours a day is about to reach a violent breaking point.
"Hilarious, utterly real and tragic ... a lithe, well-crafted gem of a novel which leaves the reader disturbed and grinning in a way that makes people sitting nearby change seats."—Scotland on Sunday
"Remarkable—a genuine, 100 proof discovery of great literary importance."—Mail on Sunday (London)
