Book Review: The Joke's Over by Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman met Hunter S. Thompson at the 1970 Kentucky Derby and for the next 35 or so years his artwork helped drive the success of some of Thompson's most important works. While Steadman's name may not ring a bell with the average American, his work is immediately recognizable to Thompson fans, and it's safe to say that neither of their careers would have been the same without the other.

Nevertheless, in his new book The Joke's Over, Steadman says his first reaction to Thompson shooting himself to death in early 2005 was "About bloody time!" While it's clear that Steadman loved Thompson and that this was a bit of black humor (or maybe Steadman didn't at first believe the news), it's also clear that Thompson could be difficult, defensive, and selfish. Whether it was their shared love of "gonzo" journalism that kept them together, or whether once united their highest worth to the outside world was as a team, their relationship endured to the end. It was a wild ride and not always an easy one.

The Joke's Over is a must-read for any Hunter S. Thompson fan, and for the many Ralph Steadman fans as well. Built on anecdotes from both their famous collaborations and from good ideas that collapsed under the weight of their drug-addled revelry, the book offers almost 400 pages worth of stories that only someone in the midst of the gonzo action could tell you.

In 1970, Steadman was paired up with Thompson to illustrate Thompson's take on the seedier side of the Kentucky Derby for Scanlan's Monthly magazine (which would fold soon after). While Steadman wasn't Thompson's first choice, it soon became clear that Steadman was willing and able to roll with Thompson's pace and idiosyncracies, and that Steadman's garish art was the perfect complement to Thompson's caustic words.

So it was natural that Steadman would be the choice to illustrate the story that would be Hunter's biggest break, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, for the still fledgling Rolling Stone magazine. The story was a big success, but even today Steadman has some hard feelings about being short-changed in the money department: "Where is Winnie the Pooh without its illustrations? Where is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas without its Gonzo drawings?" On the other hand, he says, "I wouldn't have missed the trip for the world."

Article Author: Adam Jusko

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