Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
by: Hunter S. Thompson
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Amazon.com Review:
Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" bythe New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documenteddrug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushingand D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto.Under the pseudonym ofRaoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in asouped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In itstrunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets ofmescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shakerhalf-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers,downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, acase 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 Mint400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevadadesert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatoryhopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tellthem it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or theleft). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the onlysins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists,terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen hisexperiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle;an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. Afirst-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegasis a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of purecomedic 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.
Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" bythe New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documenteddrug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushingand D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto.Under the pseudonym ofRaoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in asouped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In itstrunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets ofmescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shakerhalf-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers,downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, acase 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 Mint400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevadadesert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatoryhopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tellthem it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or theleft). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the onlysins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists,terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen hisexperiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle;an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. Afirst-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegasis a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of purecomedic 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.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- From the opening passage...
From the opening passage, to the bitter end, Hunter Thompson's masterpiece, had me completely encased. This was so much like how I felt when reading Hemingway's 'A Sun Also Rises'. I was so blown away by both these books that I immediately gobbled up everything by Thompson and Hemingway I could find, with pretty much the same results: these two books were the best of the lot. With the exception of Thompson's 'Hell's Angels' (which was kickass) the rest of their work left me cold and flat. Even so, ... Read More
Rating: - Vegas Gonzo Style
I read this book at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then I went to Vegas and saw "The Hangover". The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I bought the book after watching a documentary on Hunter Thompson. This is a MUST READ!! It will grab you from the opening paragraph and drag you along for one crazy, drugged out ride.The book is "laugh out loud" funny.
Rating: - Saint Hunter the Divine
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is the so-called Great American Novel. It was also journalism, or "Gonzo Journalism," a genre that Hunter S. Thompson practically invented, and which draws heavily from the art of fiction. HST once said: "It is a style of 'reporting' based on William Faulkner's idea that the best fiction is far more TRUE than any kind of journalism -- and the best journalists have always known this." But Thompson then goes on to say that "'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' is a failed ... Read More
Rating: - A Modern Humorist With A Twist
A different take on the standard buddy travelogue by Hunter Thompson, a writer who who provides a dark humor filled romp out west.It is not for those who frown on drug culture books, or those who cannot find humor in such things due to the subject matter, much in the same way that many do not like Cheech & Chong routines or movies (not trying to compare this to them, but more for the general idea)
But if you are not offended by those types of things, and do not mind some crudity in humor ... Read More
Rating: - It was a pleasure, Hunter.
This novel is one of the purest reflections of American culture ever penned. There is no bias in this book. It is Truth. It seethes with the complete wretchedness and filth that is we. And, in its crippling moments, it subsides, knowing that it is wretch and vermin like we. It's long past that Hunter S. Thompson received his due as a great American novelist. This is one of very few that gives reason to believe in thrusting your fist in the air, God damn it! Thank you, Hunter.
- From the opening passage...From the opening passage, to the bitter end, Hunter Thompson's masterpiece, had me completely encased. This was so much like how I felt when reading Hemingway's 'A Sun Also Rises'. I was so blown away by both these books that I immediately gobbled up everything by Thompson and Hemingway I could find, with pretty much the same results: these two books were the best of the lot. With the exception of Thompson's 'Hell's Angels' (which was kickass) the rest of their work left me cold and flat. Even so, ... Read More
- Vegas Gonzo StyleI read this book at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then I went to Vegas and saw "The Hangover". The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I bought the book after watching a documentary on Hunter Thompson. This is a MUST READ!! It will grab you from the opening paragraph and drag you along for one crazy, drugged out ride.The book is "laugh out loud" funny.
- Saint Hunter the Divine"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is the so-called Great American Novel. It was also journalism, or "Gonzo Journalism," a genre that Hunter S. Thompson practically invented, and which draws heavily from the art of fiction. HST once said: "It is a style of 'reporting' based on William Faulkner's idea that the best fiction is far more TRUE than any kind of journalism -- and the best journalists have always known this." But Thompson then goes on to say that "'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' is a failed ... Read More
- A Modern Humorist With A TwistA different take on the standard buddy travelogue by Hunter Thompson, a writer who who provides a dark humor filled romp out west.It is not for those who frown on drug culture books, or those who cannot find humor in such things due to the subject matter, much in the same way that many do not like Cheech & Chong routines or movies (not trying to compare this to them, but more for the general idea)
But if you are not offended by those types of things, and do not mind some crudity in humor ... Read More
- It was a pleasure, Hunter.This novel is one of the purest reflections of American culture ever penned. There is no bias in this book. It is Truth. It seethes with the complete wretchedness and filth that is we. And, in its crippling moments, it subsides, knowing that it is wretch and vermin like we. It's long past that Hunter S. Thompson received his due as a great American novelist. This is one of very few that gives reason to believe in thrusting your fist in the air, God damn it! Thank you, Hunter.
