Ralph Steadman, "America"
Okay, some people may cry foul at this one since it�s an art book, but it�s a book nonetheless, and it includes a rather lengthy interview with Hunter S. Thompson. It also has the occasional written rant by the artist best known for the illustrations of �Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.� The next book will be an actual novel, I promise.
I�ve read so much of Thompson�s work that I feel I know Ralph by default. The quintessential Englishman, Steadman is reportedly a timid man and is horrified by everything he sees in American culture, and it shows in his art. Everybody he draws is flabby, to the point of being grotesque, and they are almost always greasy-looking, and most certainly evil. The point comes across best when he does politicians, particularly Richard Nixon, but even a scene from Disneyland showing dirty frightened children being leered over by Disney figures becomes truly frightening � probably because it rings so true: those giant heads scared the hell out of me as a child as well.
Still though, as neat as I find Steadman�s work, and finding that his written rants are surprisingly entertaining, I think it must be kind of sad to be the man. He seems to constantly be in a state of shock and horror from his surroundings, and it can�t just be all things American. I remember an interview with Thompson where he described Steadman sketching people in the bar at the Kentucky Derby. He decided to do a sketch of a fairly attractive woman at the bar (if memory serves correctly, that is � I could be getting this all wrong...). When the boyfriend saw the horrendous caricature of his woman he nearly beat the hell out of Steadman. Steadman never understood why the couple was offended. It�s got to suck to see the world like that all the time.
