Generation of Swine or Secrets of the Temple

Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s

Author: Hunter S Thompson

Generation of Swine, the second volume of the legendary Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's bestselling "Gonzo Papers," was first published in 1988 and is now back in print.

Here, against a backdrop of late-night tattoo sessions and soldier-of-fortune trade shows, Dr. Thompson is at his apocalyptic best -- covering emblematic events such as the 1987-88 presidential campaign, with Vice President George Bush, Sr., fighting for his life against Republican competitors like Alexander Haig, Pat Buchanan, and Pat Robertson; detailing the GOP's obsession with drugs and drug abuse; while at the same time capturing momentous social phenomena as they occurred, like the rise of cable, satellite TV, and CNN -- 24 hours of mainline news. Showcasing his inimitable talent for social and political analysis, Generation of Swine is vintage Thompson -- eerily prescient, incisive, and enduring.

The New York Times - Herbert Mitgang

Mr. Thompson calls the present generation a ''Generation of Swine.'' With that phrase as his title and premise, he takes no prisoners. A reader can go through the 300-plus pages of the book and look in vain for qualifying journalistic words. Mr. Thompson doesn't write measured prose. It's - well, gonzo.

Publishers Weekly

Thompson may be correct in assuming that the greed and immorality pervading the American social landscape are obscene, but his surreal, half-demented style has hardened into a pose. These columns from the San Francisco Examiner prove only that journalism can become dated quickly. The author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas calls Colonel Khadafy smarter than Ronald Reagan and takes potshots at television news, Gary Hart, Ed Meese, evangelists, Michael Dukakis, Pat Robertson and the Iran-contra hearings. He predicts that the Democrats will self-destruct in the 1988 presidential campaign. People he dislikes are described as ``money-sucking animals,'' ``brainless freaks,'' ``geeks,'' ``greed-crazed lunatics'' and so on. Thompson's flaccid diatribes seem designed to instill a sense of smug superiority in the reader. (June)

Library Journal

Thompson's outrageous reporting style, called ``Gonzo journalism,'' was the rage in the early 1970s. The protest generation cleaved to his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ( LJ 8/72) and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ' 72 ( LJ 6/1/73), both genuinely funny and often perceptive social and political commentaries. This new effort, a collection of 100 short pieces originally published as a column in the San Francisco Examiner over the past two years, tries to recapture the old ebullience, but much of it falls flat. Still, Thompson's fansthere are manywill savor his wild words on Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, Al Haig, Ollie North, George Bush, TV preachers, et al. Kenneth F. Kister, Pinellas Park P.L., Fla.

Book review: 125 Best Toaster Oven Recipes or Lipsmackin Backpackin

Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country

Author: William Greider

This ground-breaking best-seller reveals for the first time how the mighty and mysterious Federal Reserve operates -- and how it manipulated and transformed both the American economy and the world's during the last eight crucial years. Based on extensive interviews with all the major players, Secrets of the Temple takes us inside the government institution that is in some ways more secretive than the CIA and more powerful than the President or Congress.

Publishers Weekly

In this penetrating study of the Federal Reserve Board in the Reagan era, Rolling Stone writer Greider (The Education of David Stockman) views the ``Fed'' chairman (until recently Paul Volcker) as the ``second most powerful'' officer of government, the high priest of a temple as mysterious as money itself, its processes unknown to the public and yet to be fully understood by any modern president. Controlling the money supply by secretly buying and selling government bonds and thus affecting interest rates, the Fed can manipulate billions in business profits or losses and millions in worker employment and stock, bond or bank account values, the author explains. Greider's conclusions are startling at times. The Fed, he maintains, could have prevented the 1929 crash. He also asserts the ``awkward little secret'' that the federal government deliberately induces recessions, usually to bring down inflation and interest rates. A time-consuming but extremely informative read. (November 30)

Library Journal

The recent retirement of Paul Volcker as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System seems an appropriate time to look at the man and at the system itself. William R. Neikirk's Volcker ( LJ 10/15/87) brought out the subject's personality, convictions, and modus operandi. Greider ( The Education of David Stockman, LJ 10/15/82) touches on these characteristics, but focuses on the system's influence on world economy. Greider throws much light on how our nation's unelected managers of monetary policy make day-to-day decisions. A very readable narrative, recommended for academic and public libraries. M. Balachandran, Univ. of Illinois Lib., Urbana-Champaign

Table of Contents:

Part 1	Secrets of the Temple
1	The Choice of Wall Street	11
2	In the Temple	48
3	A Pact with the Devil	75
4	Behavior Modification	124
5	The Liberal Apology	154
6	The Roller Coaster	181
Part 2	The Money Question
7	The God Almighty Dollar	225
8	Democratic Money	243
9	The Great Compromise	268
10	Leaning Against the Wind	304
Part 3	The Liquidation
11	A Car with Two Drivers	351
12	That Old-Time Religion	405
13	Slaughter of the Innocents	450
14	The Turn	495
Part 4	The Restoration of Capital
15	A Game of Chicken	537
16	Winners and Losers	570
17	"Morning Again in America"	605
18	The Triumph of Money	668
	Appendices	719
	Reference Notes	733
	Acknowledgments	767
	Index	769