This past weekend was the Kentucky Derby. While horses racing has the potential to be attractive to me, the cross with betting and high society is one of many factors that has meant that I’ve never tried to attend the event. That understood, the idea that exists in my head is entertaining in a wonderfully frightening way. This is mostly due to a 1970 article that Hunter S. Thompson wrote profiling the derby at its most human and hedonistic level. This article, titled in what we now can qualify as typically Thompson-esque, is called “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved”. The fast-pace, chaotic tone is driven by a first-person voice that wryly opens space for new perspectives via humor, sarcasm, and satire. The fireworks can be shocking, but they serve to draw a reader to a highly critical vision of the United States. It is notable that 45 years after it was published, the writing still holds a provocative potential. This is at once a commentary on the freshness of what Thomson’s voice must have been then, as well as the baby steps we have since taken towards a more comfortable dialogue on subjects like race; a question which forms a sort of background elephant-in-the-room motif to the portrayal of people drinking too much near horses running fast.
While a mint julep last weekend would have cost some money, fortunately Thomson’s article is free to enjoy.
While a mint julep last weekend would have cost some money, fortunately Thomson’s article is free to enjoy.
