YELLING AT THAT DUMB HUNTER S. THOMPSON QUOTE ABOUT HOUSTON
The good doctor was long past his prime when he typed these mock-profound words
YELLING AT STUFF, FIRST TIME MAYBE ONLY TIME, AT A QUOTATION, TO WIT, HUNTER S. THOMPSON ON HOUSTON, 2004:
Houston is a cruel, crazy town
YOU COULD SAY THAT ABOUT ANY CITY
on a filthy river in east Texas
WHAT URBAN AMERICAN RIVER IS NOT FILTHY AT ITS MOUTH
with no zoning laws
SUCH A RED HERRING. HOUSTON'S LACK OF ZONING LAWS USED IN THIS MANNER, AS IF IT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING ABOUT HOUSTON, HAS BECOME INTENSELY ANNOYING TO ME. YES, IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS THERE ARE GUN STORES NEARBY DAYCARES NEARBY STRIP CLUBS, BUT THE SAME IS TRUE IN EVERY OTHER CITY I CAN THINK OF. SOMEBODY PLEASE FIND ME THE DAYCARE NEXT DOOR TO THE BAR NEXT DOOR TO THE CHURCH I KEEP HEARING ABOUT. IT DOESN’T EXIST.
and a culture of sex, money and violence.
AGAIN, IN WHICH AMERICAN CITY IS THIS NOT TRUE?
It's a shabby, sprawling metropolis
I'LL GRANT YOU THAT, ESPECIALLY THE "SPRAWLING" PART
ruled by brazen women, crooked cops
SOUND AND FURY SIGNIFYING NOTHING. WHO WERE THESE BRAZEN WOMEN WHO RULED THIS TOWN? YOU SAID THIS BEFORE ANNISE PARKER WAS MAYOR AND WHILE LINA HIDALGO WAS A SEVENTH GRADER IN MEXICO CITY OR PERU. (FACT CHECK ME IF YOU DARE, READERS.)
SO WAS IT CAROLYN FARB? BEYONCE? THE LATE ANNA NICOLE SMITH? PLEASE CLARIFY. MAYBE I’LL GRANT YOU MISS IMA HOGG.
ALSO, WHO WERE/ARE THE CROOKED COPS YOU MENTIONED? BROKEN RECORD TIME, BUT I BET YOU SAID EVERY CITY'S POLICE FORCE WAS CROOKED. NOT UNIQUE TO HOUSTON BY A LONG SHOT.
and super-rich pansexual cowboys who live by the code of the west—which can mean just about anything you need it to mean, in a pinch."
AGAIN, THE SUPER-RICH DO RULE HOUSTON. IN WHICH CITY DO THEY NOT? BUT PANSEXUAL? COWBOYS? WHERE DO YOU GET THIS STUFF, HUNTER?
ALSO HOUSTON IS NOT A WESTERN TOWN, SO THE WHOLE COWTOWN ANALOGY IS FLAWED.
I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS QUOTE GOT PAST A KNOWLEDGABLE EDITOR, AND I STILL LESS UNDERSTAND WHY SOME HOUSTONIANS EMBRACE IT AS SOME KIND OF PROFOUND STATEMENT, BECAUSE IT JUST IS NOT. IT IS A SCATTERSHOT ARRAY OF PRETTY WORDS STACKED UP BESIDE EACH OTHER. IT IS NOT PARTICULARLY USEFUL IN DESCRIBING HOUSTON.
HE WAS JUST MAD AT AMERICA, AND HOUSTON WOULD DO AS A TARGET. THAT IS ALL.
What the quote really means is that HST came to Houston and couldn't get the drugs he want ed - or maybe he got inferior quality dope
Henry Miller said "America is an air-conditioned nightmare." which is essentially the same bitter blather Dr. Thompson said. I still like his work. My pet-peeve is the use of "America" and the "United States" as synonyms. North, Central and South are all Americans. The United States of America is but one country (of three) in North America.