Plot Summary
The book seems to begin as memoir or an autobiography, but rapidly devolves into numerous fragmented accounts of Thompson's exploits which could be termed as a type of Gonzo biography. There is a rough adherence to actual chronology though many events in the book are not in order. However, some continuity does exist throughout the work, for example, the "Witness" segments, dealing with Gail Palmer's trial against him, appearing once every section in roughly the same area. In addition to these larger narratives, there are also several sections which hold no connection to each other in any way, with the exception of some of the same people or places from a previous section being mentioned. Among the events, the ones which seem to be as closely related to Thompson's life are listed below:
- An early incident involving the FBI attempting to arrest a then nine-year-old Thompson for an action which apparently resulted in the destruction of a federal mailbox.
- The "Witness" sections
- Various exploits of Thompson's either at or involving the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, an infamous pornographic theater where he claims to have worked throughout the mid eighties.
- A possibly fictionalized account of how Thompson met his assistant and later wife Anita.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Fear (book)
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