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    Gonzo Girl: A Novel
    Gonzo Girl: A Novel
    Gonzo Girl: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Gonzo Girl: A Novel

    Written by Cheryl Della Pietra

    Narrated by Karen Peakes

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Inspired by the author’s experiences working with Hunter S. Thompson, an exhilarating, full-speed-ahead roman à clef about an ambitious young writer who takes a job as an assistant to an unmotivated, drug-addled literary icon and helps him finish his long-awaited novel—by any means necessary.

    Alley Russo is a recent Ivy League grad desperately trying to make it in New York publishing. She has no connections, even less money, and slings drinks at a Bleecker Street dive bar while slogging through an unpaid internship at Beat magazine. It’s there that she hears that the infamous Walker Reade is looking for an assistant—after eight others have recently come and gone—to help him finish his next novel. Hungry for a chance to transcend her working-class roots, not to mention score an experienced editor’s eyes on the manuscript she’s poured her heart into, Alley takes the job.

    After surviving an absurd three-day “trial period” involving a .44 magnum, purple-pyramid acid, violent verbal outbursts, brushes with fame and the law, a bevy of peacocks, and a whole lot of cocaine, she’s invited to stay. Over the ensuing months, as Alley attempts to coax the novel out of Walker one long page at a time, the endless procrastinating, vampiric schedule, Herculean substance abuse, Walker’s mounting debt, and his casual gunplay will exact a toll on Alley’s psyche. By the time she fully grasps the reality of her situation—that she’s alone in the Colorado Rockies at the mercy of a drug-addicted icon whose literary powers are waning—her fate may already be sealed.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJul 28, 2015
    ISBN9781501227905
    Author

    Cheryl Della Pietra

    Cheryl Della Pietra is a longtime New York City magazine editor, writer, and copy editor. She has published numerous stories in such magazines as Marie Claire, Redbook, and POV magazine. For a brief time, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she lived with Hunter S. Thompson in Woody Creek, Colorado, where she worked as his assistant. She currently lives in Branford, Connecticut, with her husband and son.

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    Reviews for Gonzo Girl

    4/5

    28 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Gonzo Girl is an engrossing debut novel by Cheryl Della Pietra. Based on the author's experiences as Hunter S. Thompson's personal assistant, this fictionalized story is a poignant and sometimes harrowing account of a recent college graduate's daily life with an author whose days are a drug and alcohol fueled blur of outrageous and oftentimes, dangerous, excess.

      Alley Russo has big dreams of escaping her family's blue collar life and while she has a degree from an Ivy League college, she is still tending bar while working as an unpaid intern at a magazine. When she learns Walker Reade is looking for a personal assistant, she jumps at the chance to work for the iconic writer. She is horrified when her job interview entails dropping acid, snorting coke and binge drinking, but she desperately needs the connection to publish her own manuscript. Although she has a few reservations, Alley accepts the job and since she does not get paid until Walker finishes his latest book, she has more than enough incentive to motivate him to write. He manages to churn out a page or two a day, but Alley is appalled at the lackluster drivel he produces and she begins rewriting these dismal attempts before submitting them to his editor. Trying to manage Walker's excessive behavior becomes increasingly difficult as he begins a downward spiral that turns violent and it is up to his long time assistant Claudia Reynolds to smooth over the numerous problems that threaten to topple the one time literary genius.

      By the time Alley begins working for Walker, he is in his early fifties and definitely on the downside of his once illustrious career. His over the top behavior once enhanced his writing ability, but his brilliance is now lost in a haze of drugs and alcohol. He is verbally abusive to the women around him and once he adds coke to the mix, he is downright mean. Walker surrounds himself with a cadre of hangers-on who encourage his out of control behavior and their antics escalate to the point Walker is a danger himself and everyone around him.

      Gonzo Girl is definitely an entertaining novel that is fast-paced and compelling (in a train wreck kind of way). Cheryl Della Pietra offers a fascinating peek into the self-indulgent and somewhat debauched lifestyle of a larger than life author whose once impressive talent becomes lost in a haze of addiction. All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable (if sometimes horrifying) read that I highly recommend to fans of Hunter S. Thompson.

      Oh and if you're curious about the title, check out this interesting article on Wikipedia.
    • 4/5
      If you felt The Devil Wears Prada didn't have enough booze, drugs or guns, this ones for you!
    • 4/5
      Brilliant..Great characters!