Hunter S Thompson did not suffer 'lame, half-mad bulls**t’ copy gladly

'Do you take us for a gang of brainless lizards?'

(Getty)

If you find yourself editing and suggesting revisions for a piece of commissioned writing which you still intend to actually use, you might want to consider keeping your criticism constructive.

But not Hunter S. Thompson, who in a 1973 letter labelled the writer a “lazy c**ksucker” and suggest he get his “worthless ass back to the typewriter”.

This wasn’t any old reporter either, but Anthony Burgess, the author of 33 novels including A Clockwork Orange, 25 non-fiction books and stacks of poetry, short stories and symphonies. Oh and he spoke nine languages.

As the fantastic Letters of Note details, Burgess found himself struggling to write a thinkpiece while in Rome that he’d promised Rolling Stone, so instead suggested “a 50,000-word novella I’ve just finished, all about the condition humaine etc.”

“Perhaps some of that would be better than a mere thinkpiece,” he mused.

He got this response:

Larger photo here

Esteemed though Burgess may be, Thompson raged: “What kind of lame, half-mad bulls**t are you trying to sneak over on us? When Rolling Stone asks for ‘a thinkpiece’, goddamnit we want a f**king Thinkpiece.”

We shouldn’t have expected anything less from Thompson though, just take a look at his daily routine.