Of all the people perfectly placed to truly reveal and explain the Thompson legend, it was Hunter's widow, Anita Thompson. Unfortunately, she doesn't peer into the shadows and her slim, 112-page book stands as nothing more than a grieving widow shining the armor of her fallen knight.

The Gonzo Way was written two years after Hunter's suicide, and even with the hindsight of time, she dives no deeper than many other books before her. The book seems to jump from thought to thought, approaching life  a la Gonzo by dividing the pursuit up into seven chapters. In them she does little more than re-tell oft-told stories already heard.

In one passage, Anita talks about pressure from the remaining Thompson clan, family members who didn't want Hunter's name dragged around and especially behind a chariot driven by his former wife. Maybe she was scared; maybe she didn't have the nerve to truly reveal what life with Hunter was like. In earlier books where she has been excerpted and quoted, she talks about her fall into addiction and Hunter's sometimes physical and verbal abuse. Those elements barely see the light of day here and that is too bad. What we don't need is another book praising Hunter as "funny, sexy, wickedly, smart, and a very powerful teacher." What we needed was for someone to step forward and talk about those moments when he wasn't so funny or witty and didn't feel like teaching anything.

Nothing in this book will shock or suprise or explain anything to you. You already know everything Mrs. Thompson knows. Certainly, this isn't the book Hunter wanted her to write.