The Great Shark Hunt is a collection of Thompson's writings from the 60's and 1970s. For me the most interesting topic of the earlier pieces concerned the murder of Chicano news anchor Ruben Salazar by LA Police in 1970. Salazar was the news director for KMEX-TV and viewed as a Chicano representative in the local power structure. On August 29th, LA's Laguna Park was the scene of a peaceful demonstration protesting the drafting of Chicanos to fight in Vietnam. Peaceful until AFTER the police decided to break it up. Then things turned into a full-on riot. But the real story happened several blocks away in a small tavern where Salazar had stepped in for a break. A police officer fired a CS tear gas canister into the tavern and Salazar was killed when it exploded near his head. Using contacts developed in the Chicano community, especially within the "Aztlan Indian" movement, Hunter describes the community's belief that Salazar was deliberately assassinated. He also presented the changing official story and subsequent investigations. Despite finding all kinds of evidence of police incompetence and cover-up, the one thing he didn't find support for was that the killing of Salazar was deliberate.
His writings about the Watergate hearings were also interesting. Being a child at the time, everything I tend to hear about Watergate is in retrospect. So I found it interesting to hear the events described as they were unfolding. There is one point Thompson makes that I believe is worth repeating. He talks about the spin doctors of the day trying to convince the people that all presidents do things like this and that Nixon just got caught. This pile of BS is so pervasive even my own mother has quoted it. The man ordered burglaries around the country, and fired those who tried to investigate him. An abuse of Presidential power if there ever was one. Nixon kept lists of enemies. Is any President who would view Bill Cosby as a threat mentally sound enough to be in charge of nuclear weapons?
The book covers many other topics including the Hippie movement in San Francisco, and both the 72 and 76 Presidential campaigns. Also included are excerpts from his more famous writings about the Kentucky Derby, the Hell's Angels, and the fictional Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. While some collections of Thompson's work are littered with bizarre and incoherent rants, The Great Shark Hunt concentrates on substance.