World Famous Comics: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
By: Hunter S. Thompson Publisher: Vintage Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Vintage Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 224 Publication Date: May 12, 1998 Release Date: May 12, 1998
Amazon.com Reviews: Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" by the New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documented drug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushing and D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto. Under the pseudonym of Raoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in a souped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In its trunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls," which they manage to consume during their short tour.
On assignment from a sports magazine to cover "the fabulous Mint 400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or the left). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen his experiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle; an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. A first-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of pure comedic genius. --Rebekah Warren
Product Description: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.
Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998.
A book about the savage journey to the heart of the American Dream! Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of the most powerful most inspired and most read books off all time. I bought this book after seeing the movie starring Johnny Depp. After reading it I as quite please the the movie version of this novel was pretty well adapted to screen.
If you guys like a book/movie about psychedelics drugs, and a head full of acid this is the book for you.
From a reviewers note, it might be hard reading the whole book in one setting, I spaced mine out. And got more satisfaction with my buck.
Enjoy Hunter S. Thompson fans. This is one book that you if a fan or just a reader don't want to miss.
A Virgin Jewel I'm about half way through this story and I don't give a darn how it will end. All I know is that it is one long, twisted, story where everything you expect to happen, doesnt. The characters are well written and the situations they get into are hillarious. I can't wait to see where their Great Red Shark will take them next.
"Kill the head and the body will follow."
Thanks
Old Hippies Don't Die, They Just Get More Pathetic I suppose there are basically two ways to summarize this book:(1) Wow! Thompson is this really cool guy who gets wasted all the time and sticks it to the Man whenever he can, or (2) Thompson is a delusional icon of the counterculture, wasting his enormous talent trapped in a self destructive lifestyle. I happen to agree with the latter. Being a child of the Sixties myself, I and many others soon realized that the idealism of "peace, love, and rock and roll", while very nice in theory, didn't work very well in actuality. (Especially while trying to raise a family and earn a living.) Thompson acknowledges this himself in one of his passages, stating that the "High water mark for the hippie movement" had already occurred several years before his current escapades in Las Vegas. However, Thompson seems trapped in the Sixties motif, unable to escape the stereotype of the counterculture hero which he has become. On his ill-fated adventure through Las Vegas, he (and his lawyer) continuously commit acts of antisocial behavior against any and all types of citizenry they come into contact with. Thompson appears to realize that his avant-garde life style is no better, and probably worse, than the bourgeoisie that he is rebelling against. Sadly, he seems powerless to break out of his paranoiac state of drug abuse, even though he knows it's a dead end. Overall, I really enjoyed Thompson's writing style, although I certainly can't condone his behavior. I was hoping that there would be more to the book, but then I realized there couldn't be- the "trip" was over. I would also recommend watching the movie. I found that it complemented the book well.
What the....?! First things, first...the late Mr. Thompson's earlier published book about the Hell's Angels was highly entertaining and informative. Well worth reading. As for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", well, that's a different story. There are a few funny moments, but for the most part the author and his attorney sidekick just come across as self-absorbed, drug-addled A-holes. The book is kind of like driving by a horrible car accident that you just can't seem to tear your eyes away from looking at the carnage. A potentially useful book if you want to discourage someone from taking drugs. The reader is exposed to a boatload of cruel and irresponsible absurdity. There's nothing remotely romantic or positive about the adventures in this book. Maybe that was the point.
War and Hate This book shatters any illusion of what a hippie book should be. Not a drop of peace and love to be found here. Behind the partying and humor, this is a book of profound dissillusionment and cynicism. But Thompson does a good job at not turning it into a bitter rant: he approaches chaos with a wry grin. But if you want Flower Power hippie slogans, forget it. These are gun toting, con artist hippies. And even the drugs don't seem much fun. Poking a hole through stupidity and hypocrisy is the only way these guys still know how to get high.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
