Before there was Gonzo, there was just plain Hunter -- a precocious, earnest, and occasionally troublesome honor student in Louisville, Kentucky. Before there was Doctor Thompson, there was Airman Thompson -- the military`s answer to Grantland Rice, protecting America by covering sports for his Florida base`s newspaper. Before there was Fear and Loathing, there was Dow Jones -- that is, Thompson`s early reportage for that company`s National Observer, which raised the standard for hip and provocative foreign coverage. Before there was Rolling Stone, there were job applications everywhere -- in hopes of being hired by a paper, pretty much any paper, an obsession for the starving writer with expensive tastes in alcohol, nicotine, and room service. In The Proud Highway, readers will find a Hunter S. Thompson they`ve imagined but never known. With the publication of these extraordinary letters, written from the time of his high school graduation in 1955 through the triumph of his first book, Hell`s Angels, in 1966, critics and fans can finally trace the development and maturation of a singular talent, one of our era`s most important voices. How Thompson changed the face of contemporary nonfiction -- and of America itself -- is the mesmerizing story of The Proud Highway.