The Gonzo Papers is a four volume series of books by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...

 published between 1979 and 1994. The word Gonzo is often used to describe the unique style of journalism

Gonzo journalism

Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to be first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style...

 that Thompson cultivated throughout his life.

The books largely serve as a collection of hard-to-find newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 and magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 articles written by Thompson throughout his career, although all volumes do contain some new material by the author. Articles from Thompson's early days as a newspaper free-lancer, correspondent for the National Observer, and columnist

Columnist

A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....

 for the San Francisco Examiner are included, as are excerpts from Thompson's better known works such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

The fourth volume, Better Than Sex

Better Than Sex (book)

Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie is a 1994 book written by American author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson. In Volume IV of The Gonzo Papers series of books, Thompson details his reactions to the 1992 election of Bill Clinton as U.S...

is mostly composed of faxes and letters Thompson sent and received regarding the 1992 U.S. Presidential Election

United States presidential election, 1992

The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....

, along with a few articles Thompson wrote on the subject.

Volumes of The Gonzo Papers

• Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
  The Great Shark Hunt
  The Great Shark Hunt is a book by Hunter S. Thompson. Originally published in 1979 as Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time, the book is a roughly 600-page collection of Thompson's essays from 1956 to the end of the 1970s, following the rise of the author's...
  
  . (New York, Summit Books, 1979; Simon & Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0-7432-5045-1)
• Gonzo Papers, Vol. 2: Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s
  Generation of Swine
  Gonzo Papers, Vol. 2: Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s is a book by the American writer and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, originally published in 1988...
  
  . (New York, Summit Books, 1988; Vintage, 1989, ISBN 0-679-72237-8; Simon & Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0-7432-5044-3)
• Gonzo Papers, Vol. 3: Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream
  Songs of the Doomed
  Gonzo Papers, Vol. 3: Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream is a book by the American writer and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, originally published in 1990...
  
  . (New York, Summit Books, 1990; Pocket, 1991, ISBN 0-671-74326-0; Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 2002, ISBN 0-7432-4099-5)
• Gonzo Papers, Vol. 4: Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie
  Better Than Sex (book)
  Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie is a 1994 book written by American author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson. In Volume IV of The Gonzo Papers series of books, Thompson details his reactions to the 1992 election of Bill Clinton as U.S...
  
  . (New York, Random House, 1994; Ballantine Books, 1995, ISBN 0-345-39635-9)