Publishers compile what they call a praise page for paperbacks -- the stuff that will be on the back cover as well as the reviews quoted on the first two or three pages of the book. So check out the copy below. This makes me want to run out and buy a few copies myself . . . .

“McKeen deftly takes us through the lows and highs…admirable…haunting.”—Christopher Hitchens, Sunday Times (London)

“He gets it all in: the boozing and drugging, the histrionics, the womanizing, the violence, but also the intelligence, the loyalty, the inherent decency.”—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

“What a wild and wonderful ride Outlaw Journalist is for anybody interested in the literary legacy of Hunter S. Thompson. William McKeen hits all the right highs and lows in this fine roller coaster of a biography. Simultaneously, McKeen manages to be both scholarly and hip. A truly admirable achievement.”—Douglas Brinkley, Literary executor of the Hunter S. Thompson Estate and Editor of The Proud Highway and Fear and Loathing in America

“Makes you want to pick up one of Thompson’s books and dive headfirst into his madness.”—Andrew Milner, Philadelphia City Paper

“This is the Great Red Shark of Hunter biographies. McKeen gives us full frontal HST, horrific and heroic, the class clown of the class war. Read it or die.”—Greg Palast

“Essential”— Bret Sokol, The Miami Herald

”William McKeen has wonderfully captured Hunter S. Thompson in Outlaw Journalist and in doing so has captured a significant time in our national life. Thompson changed how we think about and practice journalism. McKeen gives us a telling insight into how that happened.”—Michael Connelly

“The best record to date of Thompson’s life.”—Michael Washburn, The New York Observer

“There had to be more the Hunter Thompson than we knew. If you’ve ever wondered what was behind the sunglasses, drugs, and booze, what was beyond the craziness and the midnight motorcycle rides with no helmet, not even lights, here it is.”—Rick Bragg

“Outlaw Journalist is painfully honest—which is good. But listen! Hunter was no Jesus Christ—though by now I reckon is sitting at God’s right hand screaming ‘More Ice! More Ice!’ while Jesus fixes the drinks.”—Ralph Steadman

“McKeen gives a clear-eyed, detailed accounting, from Thompson’s rebellious youth to his revolutionary writing career….[He] fires another shot for Thompson with Outlaw Journalist.”—Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Delivers a copiously chronicled account of an extremely lived life. It’s the reportorial equivalent of cracking open a fifth of Wild Turkey and sharing it with a grave.” —John Hood, The Miami Sun Post

“William McKeen has done it. Outlaw Journalist will be applauded as the seminal biography of the life and literary legacy of the legendary cultural icon, the late Hunter S. Thompson. It is a benchmark unlikely to be surpassed.”—Beef Torrey, coeditor, Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson

“[P]aints a vivid, detailed picture of a charismatic and complicated man… The book not only perfectly contextualizes Thompson’s writings, it is full of exquisite vignettes which are tantalizing glimpses into the sheer lunacy that was his life.”—Tim Arthur, Time Out London

“McKeen has delivered rare, superbly researched insight into one of the most fascinating American writers of the last century—a must-read for those who want to peek under the curtain of Hunter’s gonzo mystique and discover what really made this guy tick, like so many of the bombs he set off at his Colorado ranch.”—Tim Dorsey, author of Atomic Lobster

“The most complete and extensive biography of Thompson ever written.”—Mike Easterling, Albuquerque Journal

“A definitive biography,”—Frederick Smock, Louisville Courier Journal

“[A] definitive biography of gonzo journalism’s progentior….Thompson was an original, never to be duplicated, and McKeen’s book gives us proof in abundance.”—Jonathan Messinger, Time Out Chicago

“This is the whole story of ‘the dead-end loneliness of a man who makes his own rules.’”—Harper’s Magazine

“Devote[s] much attention to Thompson’s running feud with the journalistic establishment—and his attraction to it.”—David Gates, The Columbia Review of Journalism

“[A] robust, readable, and altogether illuminating biography….superbly rendered….the best on Thompson to date.”—Gregory McNamee, St. Petersburg Times

“McKeen honors the memory of the Great Agitator by making him human—maddening and profane, but in the end, a man who lived well and wrote better.“—Zack Handlen, A.V. Club

“William McKeen’s Outlaw Journalist does what a good biography should do: it makes you feel as though you knew the person…. a colorful take on Thompson’s extraordinary life.”—Charles Gershman, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“[A]n accessible look at Thompson’s personal life and his eternal struggles to earn a living and leave a legacy.” —Joel Drucker, San Francisco Chronicle

“Dig[s] deeper than most of his previous biographers to reveal a vital component of Thompson’s genius…A welcome addition to the Gonzo library and one of the best starting points for HST novices.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[Mckeen] has interviewed diligently and deeply among the writer’s wide circle. His portrait of the formative early life is as telling as his account of the later descent is depressing.”—Desmond Ryan, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“McKeen, through thorough and patient research, reveals a more human and ‘normal’ Thompson behind the façade of the out-of-step-icon.”—The Florida Times-Union

“[A] rock-solid, more fully dimensional, empathetic, and rollicking portrait. Here is the hectic life, the scorching personality, the audacious acts and improbable triumphs, and, most importantly, a keen assessment of how Thompson revolutionized journalism.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist, Starred Review

“Outlaw Journalist is meticulous, devoutly chronological and detailed.…Thompson might have admired this book. He might have even taken back what he once wrote to McKeen: ‘You are scum’”—Stewart Oksenhorn, Aspen Times Weekly

“Outlaw Journalist is a wild mix of all the stories I’ve heard from him through the years”—Gregory Hardy, CBSSports.com

“[O]ffers up a definitive biography of the inventor of “Gonzo Journalism” going beyond examination of his use of drugs and his drinking to consider the writer and the man who was considered an outlaw in his industry—and a hero to the world.”—Midwest Book Review

“[A] fascinating ride…. Anyone who’s ever been curious about the magnetic man who hid behind drugs, drinking and an eccentric public persona will have a hard time trying to put this one down.”—Lindsay Downey, SRQ: Sarasota’s Premier Magazine

“Brutally honest, McKeen rips into the truth behind the drinking and drugs that typified the public version of Thompson to explore what made him the personification of an era.”—Ian Goodwillie, Popjournalism

“[F]ans away the smoke of cigarettes, explosions and weed to reveal a writer who took his craft far more seriously than casual observers may have believed.…delivers a fully detailed and unbiased view of all aspects of the Thompson’s life—warts and all.”—Paul Curl, ItRawks

“Of all the biographies that have come out about Hunter Stockton Thompson, this is probably the finest. It is well-researched, deftly written, and comes from a place of respect and awe.”—Steven Rosen, Curledup.com