David S. Wills

My latest book is now on sale. I’ve spent the last 2-3 years working on the first ever book-length study of the 6 Gallery reading. That’s the event where Allen Ginsberg gave his first reading of “Howl.” It’s on Amazon here: amzn.to/42tVD6r

Hunter S. Thompson died 21 years ago today. Last year, I answered the biggest mystery about his work: the origin of the word "Gonzo." The essay is free to read on Substack: beatdom.substack.com/p/uncovering-t…

Returning to X very briefly to point out that people who correctly use em-dashes are not necessarily writing with AI. We are just literate. The people who dismiss writing as AI-generated for this reason tend to have the intellectual capacity of broken doornobs.

A particularly relevant quote from Hunter S. Thompson's "Kingdom of Fear."

I mostly use Substack to read and write non-fiction but today I found this short story. I thought it was brilliant--hilarious, terrifying, perceptive. Sharing here in case anyone is interested. It is going mildly viral on Substack. authorelliselms.substack.com/p/flagged-as-9…

Very proud to see my latest work called "one of the great books of the year" by the Allen Ginsberg estate and included on their recommended list of 2026 titles. allenginsberg.org/2025/12/m-d-15/

It's become really common for writers with a new book out to get targeted by AI-assisted scammers who scrape data about the book and pitch fake marketing services. Today, at least I got a good laugh from the profile photo this one chose...

Fascinating revelations from Beat scholar Brett Sigurdson regarding Jack Kerouac and On the Road... beatdom.substack.com/p/a-multicultu…

"Create a place for people to live like human beings, instead of slaves to some bullshit concept of Progress that is driving us all mad." ~ Hunter S. Thompson

Hanging out next to Ralph Steadman on the new Gonzofest website: gonzofest.net I'll be at Gonzofest in NYC next July. Come along and learn about Hunter Thompson and the Beats.

Love this.😂

Very pleased by the first Amazon review of my latest book. amzn.to/43jQAG9

These are the 3 books I've edited and/or written this year. There are 3 more lined up for next year. Details to follow...

I edited this book earlier this year. It goes on sale today. It can be found on Amazon here: amzn.to/48XbdLT and on Bookshop.org here: bookshop.org/a/93655/978106… Copies are also available via Water Row Books.

I will be in NYC next July talking about Hunter Thompson and the Beat Generation. Come along and say hello. huntersthompson.substack.com/p/gonzofest-20…

A great interview with Gay Talese, who at 93 is one of the last living greats of the literary era. metropolitanreview.org/p/the-last-lit…

@elonmusk Grokipedia pros: It is detailed, reasonable accurate, and lacking obvious bias. Cons: The sources aren't great. It's pulling from random websites instead of journals, books, etc.

Grokipedia.com is fully open source, so anyone can use it for anything at no cost

@LeonHorton17 Great news. It's a must-read book for Beat scholars.

I'm very pleased to announce that my book 'Gregory Corso: Ten Times a Poet' (Roadside Press, 2024) is now available from the Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University.

My book got its first review on Goodreads. If you've read it, consider leaving a review somewhere. It helps others find it.

My books.

Stuck between The Great Gatsby and Last of the Mohicans.