Why can't writers be rock stars?

 Excerpt from my review of Gonzo - The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson:

Why can’t writers be rock stars?

A cavalcade of celebrities: writers, actors, politicians; and non-celebrities: family and friends, help Depp tell the story of how this Kentucky hick (as Thompson was known to refer to himself) raised himself out of obscurity; as a young kid with ambition to a beat sports writer to a muck-racking political journalist, to ultimately becoming the most famous writer in America; or as Hunter Thompson once queried, Why can’t writers be rock stars?

It is said early on that Mr. Thompson would sit for hours at his typewriter and copy word for word his favorite novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, over and over again, until he was able to thoroughly understand the way in which a genuine craftsman constructed a great piece of writing.

Read more: http://documentaryfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/gonzo_film_review_of_alex_gibneys_documentary#ixzz0SGC0qRWi