''Better Than Sex: Confessions Of A Political Junkie Trapped Like A Rat In Mr. Bill's Neighborhood''

"Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie Trapped Like a Rat in Mr. Bill's Neighborhood" by Hunter S. Thompson Random House, $23

Most college newspapers owe their style to Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the man who invented "gonzo journalism," a highly subjective and impressionistic approach, usually accomplished by a writer on drugs or alcohol or just acting like it.

"Better Than Sex" is Thompson's ninth book and he claims his last. Do not believe him. A self-confessed addict, Thompson warns you about such political junkies: "They are addicts, and they are guilty and they do lie and cheat and steal." And they rarely enter "recovery."

Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign was perfect fodder for Thompson's twisted style because, well, Clinton's a political junkie and the campaign was gonzo. As subjective journalism has become more common, Thompson has had to push further out onto the edge, and his books have become increasingly addled and incoherent. Yet he still shows flashes of shrewd political insight:

"You are doomed if you botch it like you did the A.G. (third choice Attorney General Janet Reno)," says Thompson of Clinton's first Supreme Court vacancy. "Make it a commitment to excellence and justice and truth . . . above politics as usual." He warned of "another 12 greedy years of Republican looting" if Clinton failed.

Clinton didn't listen. Republicans ran the recent election directly against Clinton and "politics as usual."

Political junkies in Aspen claim they heard Thompson howling in agony that election eve, preparing to write yet another political book.