Here are two of the best books by the unparalleled Hunter S. Thompson, chronicler of the bizarre underside of American culture and father of Gonzo journalism.

In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson takes a sizzlingly surreal journey to Las Vegas during the height of the drug-crazed 1960's. "We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughters," he says. "Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls... But the only thing that worried me was the ether."

Generation of Swine is Thompson's collection of hilarious essays providing wicked, biting commentary on the decade of greed. The 1988 Presidential race (from the "wolf-like howling" of Sam Donaldson to George Bush's "slick hubris and dark yuppie instincts"), the Oliver North scandal, and the escapades of television evangelists are among the topics on which Thompson sharpens his teeth. He "elevates insult to an art form," says the New York Times. "He takes no prisoners.