The Rum Diary is an early novel by American writer Hunter S. Thompson . It was written in the early 1960s but was not published until 1998. The manuscript, begun in 1959, was discovered among Thompson's papers by Johnny Depp . The story involves a journalist named Paul Kemp who, in the 1950s, moves from New York to work for a major newspaper, The Daily News , in San Juan, Puerto Rico . It is Thompson's second novel, preceded by the still-unpublished Prince Jellyfish .
19-433: The Rum Diary may refer to: The Rum Diary (novel) , a novel by Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary (film) , a 2011 film based on the novel, directed by Bruce Robinson and starring Johnny Depp The Rum Diary (band) , a California-based indie rock band Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
38-659: A film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the late 1960s, which drew on his experiences as a struggling actor, living in poverty in Camden Town . He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Killing Fields (1984). As an actor, he has worked with Franco Zeffirelli , Ken Russell and François Truffaut . Bruce Robinson was born in London. He grew up in Broadstairs , Kent, where he attended
57-562: The Charles Dickens Secondary Modern School . His parents were Mabel Robinson and American lawyer Carl Casriel, who had a short-term relationship during World War II. His father was a Lithuanian Jew. As a child, Robinson was constantly brutally abused by his stepfather Rob (an ex RAF navigator and a wholesale newsagent), who knew the boy was not his son. He had an elder sister Elly, whom he asked to teach him some French. In his youth, Robinson aspired to be an actor and
76-554: The Great American Novel . "I still can't beat that goddamn Gatsby." Thompson finished a draft of The Rum Diary in the early sixties but continued to work on it throughout that decade, ultimately selling it to Random House after they agreed to publish his first book, Hell's Angels . However, he felt that the more time passed, the more difficult it was to write about an increasingly distant era. After missing various deadlines, he gave up on The Rum Diary until 1998, when it
95-504: The Duck (2005), both illustrated by his wife. The former is also available as an audiobook edition (2003), read by Lorelei King and Michael Maloney . He spent about 15 years collecting and researching the materials on the mystery of Jack the Ripper , which later became his book They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper (2015). Robinson identified songwriter Michael Maybrick as his prime suspect for
114-458: The acting career of Richard E. Grant . Robinson's next two outings as a director ( How to Get Ahead in Advertising , teaming him again with Richard E. Grant, and Jennifer 8 , a Hollywood thriller) were not as well received. Robinson became disillusioned with the restrictive film-making practices of Hollywood and stopped directing to concentrate solely on writing. He wrote the screenplays for
133-490: The films Return to Paradise (1998) and In Dreams (1999), but both were altered drastically by their producers, leaving Robinson once again disappointed. Robinson eventually returned to directing with an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson 's novel The Rum Diary , with the main role performed by Johnny Depp . With Aaron Eckhart and Richard Jenkins also on board, filming started on 25 March 2009 in Puerto Rico . It
152-456: The killings. Robinson married artist Sophie Windham in 1984, and they live in England. They have a daughter, Lily, and a son, Willoughby. Robinson claimed to have been the target of unwanted sexual advances by Franco Zeffirelli during the filming of Romeo and Juliet , in which Robinson played Benvolio . Robinson says that the lecherous character of Uncle Monty in the film Withnail and I
171-604: The late 1950s, the novel encompasses a tangled love story involving jealousy, treachery and violent alcoholic lust among the Americans who staff the newspaper. Thompson himself travelled from New York to San Juan in 1960 to write for an ill-fated sports newspaper on the island of Puerto Rico. Thompson had unsuccessfully applied to work at the larger English-language daily called The San Juan Star which novelist William J. Kennedy edited. While in Puerto Rico, Thompson befriended many of
190-409: The loosely autobiographical film Withnail and I (1987) which he based on his time as a struggling out-of-work actor. The character 'Withnail' is reportedly based on his friend, Vivian MacKerrell , the character 'I' (Marwood), on himself. Though unsuccessful at the box office, because of its success on video it has since been described as "one of Britain's biggest cult films". The film also launched
209-435: The time it was released as a book. When it was published in 1998, The Rum Diary was billed as "The Long Lost Novel" but it had never in fact been lost. Thompson had always felt it was too weak to sell, but now he needed money. His assistant, Lynn Nesbit, explained: “ The Rum Diary came out when it did because he needed money, absolutely. He never would’ve published that twenty years before.” The book sold well but Thompson
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#1733093934416228-473: The title The Rum Diary . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Rum_Diary&oldid=1232649223 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Rum Diary (novel) Set in
247-535: The writers at the Star , providing the context for The Rum Diary ' s fictional storyline. Although Thompson wrote his narrative at the age of 22, it deals extensively with a fear of "going over the hill" and growing old. The prominent characters are typical of Thompson's work: violent, maniacal and alcoholic, stumbling through life. The narrative uses a highly paced and rather exciting style, also typical of Thompson's oeuvre. Thompson himself stated that he wanted to write
266-657: Was admitted to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. His first film role was as Benvolio in Franco Zeffirelli 's film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (1968). He then appeared in Ken Russell 's The Music Lovers (1970), Barney Platts-Mills 's Private Road (1971) and François Truffaut 's The Story of Adèle H. (1975). After spending several years out of work and living on social security payments, he became disenchanted and began writing screenplays. He
285-504: Was disappointed, calling it "the sloppiest job of Book Publishing I've ever seen." The Rum Diary has been adapted into a film. Bruce Robinson wrote the screenplay and directed the film, which stars Johnny Depp as journalist Paul Kemp. Filming took place in Puerto Rico during 2009. It was released on October 28, 2011. Bruce Robinson Bruce Robinson (born 2 May 1946) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote and directed Withnail and I (1987),
304-639: Was finally published. Parts of the novel were published in 1990 in Thompson's collection, Songs of the Doomed . In these excerpts, it is possible to see how the manuscript was changed before its final publication. David S. Wills wrote in High White Notes: The Rise and Fall of Gonzo Journalism that the original manuscript, as well as the 1990s excerpts, were "littered with" racial epithets and racist depictions, but that these had almost all been removed by
323-474: Was released in 2011. In 2012, Robinson's comic novella Paranoia in the Launderette was substantially filled out and adapted for the screen as A Fantastic Fear of Everything starring Simon Pegg . Robinson has completed a screenplay for his novel The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman and a book on Jack the Ripper , titled They All Love Jack . Robinson is also a successful author. His first published work
342-403: Was soon commissioned by David Puttnam to write the screenplay for Roland Joffé 's The Killing Fields (1984). Robinson was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA for his work. In 1989, Robinson wrote again for Joffé on Fat Man and Little Boy . He returned to acting briefly in 1998, taking a role in the film Still Crazy . He is perhaps best known as the creative force behind
361-498: Was the semi-autobiographical novel The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman in 1998, based on his own childhood growing up in Broadstairs , Kent . In 2000, Smoking in Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson , edited by Alistair Owen, was published, made up of a selection of interviews given by Robinson. Meanwhile, since becoming a father, Robinson has also written two children's books, The Obvious Elephant (2000) and Harold and
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