Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream

When I first met Hunter, we were in Aspen in the late 80s. He gave some kind of a speech-- I say "some kind" because he was drunk and incomprehensible-- and at the end of it, my father wanted his autograph. Hunter signed something for him and then whipped the pen cap over his shoulder, in his usual fashion. My father was no real fan to begin with, and he was none too pleased. Then Hunter and I...more

When I first met Hunter, we were in Aspen in the late 80s. He gave some kind of a speech-- I say "some kind" because he was drunk and incomprehensible-- and at the end of it, my father wanted his autograph. Hunter signed something for him and then whipped the pen cap over his shoulder, in his usual fashion. My father was no real fan to begin with, and he was none too pleased. Then Hunter and I wound up chatting and he asked me if I had some dope. I whipped out a bag, which I thought we were going to split. He took it. That's who he was. A fascinating, incontinent and selfish fuck. Without going into detail, I find "Fear and Loathing" a funny, rambling, self-indulgent document of drugs, wild times with a bit of insight arguably mixed in. It wears thin with me over time. Dated. I appreciate it in the sense that something like that HAD to be written, and I definitely think that only someone as mentally ill as Hunter could've done the job. A sick, selfish genius.   hide

Pretty crazy story. He goes to Vegas to cover the Mint 400 and Police Narcotics Conference, and he's doped up on everything from weed to mescaline, ether, amyls and adrenochrome, to name a few. He seemed to always be aware that he could get caught at any moment, always sizing up what they would do to him if he got caught. Yet he always finagled his way out of the most dire situations. He's crazy,...more

Pretty crazy story. He goes to Vegas to cover the Mint 400 and Police Narcotics Conference, and he's doped up on everything from weed to mescaline, ether, amyls and adrenochrome, to name a few. He seemed to always be aware that he could get caught at any moment, always sizing up what they would do to him if he got caught. Yet he always finagled his way out of the most dire situations. He's crazy, but intelligent too.   hide

pure poetry

Though on the surface I strive to find serenity and maintain compassion at all times, I can't help but admit that I am secretly wishing to be as fearless as Thompson was. I'm just glad he wrote about his experiences so vividly and brutally that I can read his work and feel like I've been on a vicarious bender for a few hours before returning to my normal everyday life. I recommend...more

Though on the surface I strive to find serenity and maintain compassion at all times, I can't help but admit that I am secretly wishing to be as fearless as Thompson was. I'm just glad he wrote about his experiences so vividly and brutally that I can read his work and feel like I've been on a vicarious bender for a few hours before returning to my normal everyday life. I recommend this book for anyone who dreams of just one day throwing up their hands and saying F--- it! I want what I want and I want it RIGHT NOW!Screw everyone and everything, from here on out my life is all about experiencing it. ALL of it. All at effing once!   hide

I'm a bit of an addict, I have a habit of reading books around certain themes. when I get started I struggle to stop until something hits me like a cold turkey. I got stuck on Anthony Bourdain and chef culture for a while there and I've just ploughed through a group of books all about the dangers of US corporate excess. This book was randomly picked out of a bookcase and just so happened to...more

I'm a bit of an addict, I have a habit of reading books around certain themes. when I get started I struggle to stop until something hits me like a cold turkey. I got stuck on Anthony Bourdain and chef culture for a while there and I've just ploughed through a group of books all about the dangers of US corporate excess. This book was randomly picked out of a bookcase and just so happened to randomly fit with my theme in a random kind of way. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is decidedly random. Yet fitting my recent theme it exudes excess. Hunter S Thompson, in search of the 'American Dream' simply pushes his foot to the floor and drives life at top speed over a drug and booze fuelled weekend in the US's city of excess - Vegas. The book itself is a trip, a real page turner full of fantastic hallucinations and sharp dialogue, I was draged along in the 'Red Shark' and the 'Whale' stinking of booze and sweating ether waiting for the inevitable crash that never came.   hide

This roller coaster ride of a drug high is incredibly witty as it is informative. Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo set off for Sin City in an attempt to search for the American Dream through LSD, mescaline, cocaine, and the like. While never quite distinguishing imagination from reality, Hunter S. Thompson is nevertheless poignant about the irony of searching for the American Dream amid the...more

This roller coaster ride of a drug high is incredibly witty as it is informative. Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo set off for Sin City in an attempt to search for the American Dream through LSD, mescaline, cocaine, and the like. While never quite distinguishing imagination from reality, Hunter S. Thompson is nevertheless poignant about the irony of searching for the American Dream amid the ugly decline of American culture. Definitely, one of the funniest books I have ever read.   hide

Even funnier than the movie, especially when you consider just how crazy this must have sounded when it was first published in 1972. The success of the book became both a blessing and a curse by launching the career of Hunter Thompson the writer, but forever altering his persona into someone who was forced to live the "Gonzo" lifestyle in order to satisfy the expectations of his fans. I think...more

Even funnier than the movie, especially when you consider just how crazy this must have sounded when it was first published in 1972. The success of the book became both a blessing and a curse by launching the career of Hunter Thompson the writer, but forever altering his persona into someone who was forced to live the "Gonzo" lifestyle in order to satisfy the expectations of his fans. I think the quality of his work only went down from here, so you may want to save this one for later if you plan on reading his other books and essays.   hide

Reading this book is the healthiest way to get high. I'm actually upset I finished it. Gonzo Journalism in its purest form, by a man who's so witty that the neurons that survived the massive and constant drug-taking were able to breed a novel as amazing as this, and whose sense of humor is as acid as that which he regularly uses. A brilliant and crude portrayl of the Drug Culture of the early...more

Reading this book is the healthiest way to get high. I'm actually upset I finished it. Gonzo Journalism in its purest form, by a man who's so witty that the neurons that survived the massive and constant drug-taking were able to breed a novel as amazing as this, and whose sense of humor is as acid as that which he regularly uses. A brilliant and crude portrayl of the Drug Culture of the early 70's.   hide

Far superior to the film, which was honestly the first thing that came to mind when I started it and when I finished it. The book really is a shitload of hilarious, but it's also a descent into hell about a guy coming to terms with his demons. Hunter S. Thompson really captures the intensity and the paranoia of a gnarly drug trip, largely because the stream-of-consciousness style forgoes...more

Far superior to the film, which was honestly the first thing that came to mind when I started it and when I finished it. The book really is a shitload of hilarious, but it's also a descent into hell about a guy coming to terms with his demons. Hunter S. Thompson really captures the intensity and the paranoia of a gnarly drug trip, largely because the stream-of-consciousness style forgoes obvious structure in favour of the moment-to-moment tangents and observations that really go on when you're that fuckity-fucked-up. (Too many hyphens-to-hyphens in that sentence). The book seems to lose speed in the second half though, after Duke returns to Vegas for the DA's convention. The convention starts off good and there are many intelligent asides, but there's not much there before the book trails off in a bad way.   hide