‘Going Rogue’ alternatives abound

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

No doubt Sarah Palin’s best-selling biography, “Going Rogue,” is going to be under a lot of trees this Christmas (hint, hint, Santa). But in case your favorite political junkie has already gone rogue, here are some other suggestions for those folks on your list with a political bent.

One of the best political books of all time is “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72” by Hunter S. Thompson. The book is a collection of Thompson’s Rolling Stone magazine articles covering the ’72 presidential race, from the primaries to the McGovern campaign’s implosion and Nixon’s victory.

Thompson is most famous for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” in which he introduced his “Gonzo” style of journalism to the world, but “Trail ‘72” is his best work. In it, Thompson describes the motivations, misfortunes and dirty tricks involved in high-stakes campaigns without any extra polish or political correctness. It is campaign politics uncensored.

Staying true to his Gonzo style — generally described as a story in which the writer plays a central role — Thompson spends a fair amount of time describing his own travails on the road, from desperately trying to think of something to write only an hour before his deadline to the difficulties of supporting his drug habits while traveling from town to town.

Regardless of his tendency to ramble off on tangents, Thompson provides one of the most realistic looks inside a…