Hunter S. Thompson 53
they see you roaming your hedgerows at night with something that looks
like a shotgun—that you have six fingers on each hand and your mind
is a raging inferno of contradictions.
They would have locked you up, Ralph, if they thought you were
desperately crazy . . . and they will, if you can't get a grip on yourself.
Take my word for it. Don't give them a handle. I know that man
Narley who runs the Maidstone Pub, and I've heard the crude gossip
he spreads. He is definitely not on your side.
But don't worry, Ralph. I have the answer. My own life has been
exceedingly strange, of late. I went through one of those giddy periods
where I believed what people told me, and naturally it ended in grief.
I went over there, as you know, to do the P/a>'^o>'/feminist-porno story,
but I ended up deeply involved and was arrested almost constantly, for
reasons I can't explain to you now, due to the numerous pending court
actions.
The Night Manager is running a bit behind schedule at this point,
because of my weakness for journalism. In addition to all my other jobs,
titles and responsibilities, I am now a sort of neo-syndicated columnist
for the San Francisco Examiner, the once-proud flagship of what was
known as "The Hearst Empire." Young Will, the heir, has decided to
make it "a thinking man's newspaper for the '80s," and of course I am
out on the point.
Why not? We have Warren on the night shift, whipping the police at
all times, and I suspect there is life in the project . . . which means, of
course, that you will have to fill one of the "Artists in Residence" slots,
a high-powered four-week gig that will cause you to move to San Fran-
cisco and actually work for a living for a while. You will be sent out on
routine assignments like an ordinary journalist and your work will be
treated like offal, but I think you can overcome it and perhaps do some
unusual work.
Let's look at Groundhog Day for your opening shot. We will get you
a flat in the Avenues, my old neighborhood, and your first assignment
will probably be the trial of Charles C. Ng, an alleged mass sex slayer
from Calaveras County who will soon be deported from Canada to stand
trial here in Fat City … or maybe in some rural jurisdiction where
they will treat us like decent people when we roll into town like the
Joad brothers.
You will have to trust me on this one, Ralph. I know it sounds strange.