THE MALTESE SANGWEECH AND OTHER HEROES

by Bill Cardoso ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 18, 1984

Cardoso is identified as the writer who inspired Hunter Thompson ""to coin the term 'Gonzo journalism' ""; and some of these twelve 1970s magazine articles (from San Francisco, Ramparts, Rolling Stone, etc.) do indeed embody that free-associative, self-indulgent, sometimes vital, often sophomoric approach. A report on the Snake River Canyon jump by Evel Knievel (""What an asshole"") is written in a sort of spacey shorthand: ""Is possible G forces blew his hand right off lever. . . Also is possible, since EK never do this before, that blast-off simply too thrilling for Him and He let go the lever. If so, He macho enough never to admit it."" In Zaire for the Ali-Foreman bout, Cardoso is more concerned about his chemical intake than about his halfhearted interviews with participants and onlookers. (""I also take all this Ritalin to cut through the wild hemp, which is the best in the monde. . ."") A modified Gonzo style works somewhat better in a 50-page piece (originally a series) about the Boston Red Sox circa 1975: savvy fans with total recall may be able to follow, and enjoy, Cardoso's sentimental/surly ramble through the pennant race and the World Series--with bleary close-ups of (among others) Bosox owner Tom Yawkey, ""notorious one-eyed sporting writer George Kimball,"" and Tony Conigliaro. (""You didn't deserve the random wickedness you were dealt. Sweet boy of summer."") But the sarcasm is all too predictable when Cardoso visits backstage at the Tournament of Roses Parade: ""the meeting ground of Babbitt and Costello, and a ton of plop dropped on boulevards in two hours by 272 horses."" And other, more straightforward pieces--on a Chinese-gang massacre, on a schoolchildren kidnapping, on the late mountain-sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski--are hardly enhanced by the occasional dips into Gonzo-ese. In fact, only a likably loose impressions-of-Oregon essay seems to be a wise match-up of subject and style here. The rest, prefaced by introductions that fill in Cardoso's journalistic goals at the time (""I needed the money""), is a dated goulash--with nostalgia appeal, perhaps, for diehard Gonzo-istes.

Pub Date: July 18, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1984

Categories: NONFICTION