Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
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. (US anti-drugs organisation) 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 boot, they hide "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 multicoloured uppers, downers, screamers, laughers ... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser [and] a pint of raw ether" 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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘There are only two adjectives writers care about…”brilliant” and “outrageous”. Hunter Thompson has a freehold on both of them. “Fear and Loathing” is a scorching epochal sensation.’ Tom Wolfe
‘What goes on in these pages makes Lenny Bruce seem angelic…the whole book boils down to a mad, corrosive prose poetry that picks up where Norman Mailer’s “An American Dream” left off and explores what Tom Wolfe left out.’ New York Times
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We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
By far the most intelligent and funny book I've ever read. But it's so much more than that, it captures the polarization of cultures in america at the end of the sixties and many of the observations still ring true today. A brilliant satire, the drawings by Ralph Steadman complement the text wonderfully well.
My favourite quote: 'at one point I tried to drive the Great Red Shark into the laundry room of the Landmark Hotel - but the door was too narrow, and the people inside seemed dangerously excited'.
Genius.
RIP Hunter.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There aren't many books that can make me laugh out loud. But this one did. In fact, there were times when I was laughing so hard I couldn't focus my eyes on the page to read. I'd have to stop reading just to compose myself enough to go on. Wild only begins to describe the adventures of Thompson and his lawyer. In all fairness, I should warn you that drinking large amounts of liquor and taking illegal drugs play a big part in the story. If drugs and drug culture easily offend you you may want to pass on this book. My feeling is this: I do not condone drug use but this novel does reflect a period in America's recent past, it is a modern classic, and it's so darned funny that it you really should read it. The story follows Thompson and his lawyer as they search for the real America. On the way, Thompson gets an assignment to cover a motorcycle race in Las Vegas. Armed with a red convertible and enough drugs to kill a VERY large animal, they set off for Vegas. The story is a mixture of reality, drug induced hallucinations, and some fuzzy experiences that are both reality and drug clouded. It's just a flat-out, fun, hilarious romp -- a joy ride of a novel. Don't miss out! Another offbeat novel that I came across recently and enjoyed was THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez.
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...This is Hunter S Thompson's countercultural classic 1973 non-ficition novel. Originally serialised in Rolling Stone and often written under the influence of mind-altering chemicals or booze (which Thompson injected into his chest), "Fear And Loathing..." is a powerful, funny and forceful assault on American culture and values. Ostenibly taking the viewpoint of one Raoul Duke- a thinly disguised HST-, a journalist assigned to covering a a desert race in Las Vegas, the book gives us a brilliant insight into the American culture of 1970s. Many who review the book draw attention to the protagonist's drug abuse, however this really secondary to the book and quite harmless when you consider he uses mainly psychedelics rather than powerful, habit-forming substances like heroin.
Accompained by his obese Samoan attorney- HST's mate and missing Hispanic loon, Oscar Acosta- the book follows Duke's wild adventures in the joyless pleasuredomes of Las Vegas. Duke's real purpose is to search for the American Dream and find it in physical form, he hopes he will achieve this aim in Las Vegas. However, he knows that Las Vegas is a corrupt and filthy place and that the American Dream does not actually exist.
Thompson is a master of bringing absurd comedy out of a situation and his visceral exposures of the stupidity and idiocy of the Las Vegas people and workers are hilarious. He also brilliantly dissects and informs us about the failures of the Nixon administration and the shame and pity of living in the world after the glory of the 1960s.
The influence of Fear and Loathing echoes in the work of numerous journalists and writers- Will Self. Easton Ellis, the fella who wrote Fight Club- who are by comparison mere imitators.
It is easy to forget, in the fallout of his suicide and the confusion of the adaptation, the brilliance of Hunter S Thompson: his wit, power, brutality and acerbity. He escapes easy caterogorisation and labelling to create a voice and a sense of individuality unique in writing. He specified in his own notes for the book that we should read it drunk and to the accompaniment of loud, violent music. In this violent mix, we can still hear the author's voice raving on with candour and wit like a debauched and intoxicated uncle.
To read Fear and Loathing, and to observe the cartoons of Ralph Steadman, is truly to experience something entirely new and different, HST's voice is one you will recognise and agree with without being preached to and you will doubtless appreciate the sheer power of his work. People complain of his alcoholism, anger and failure to repeat his success, but, ultimately, when you hold this book in your hands, none of that really matters. He changed the way we view our leaders and our contrymen. And he did it all drunk. For that alone, he deserves applause.
A true testament to the importance of rebellion.
Accompained by his obese Samoan attorney- HST's mate and missing Hispanic loon, Oscar Acosta- the book follows Duke's wild adventures in the joyless pleasuredomes of Las Vegas. Duke's real purpose is to search for the American Dream and find it in physical form, he hopes he will achieve this aim in Las Vegas. However, he knows that Las Vegas is a corrupt and filthy place and that the American Dream does not actually exist.
Thompson is a master of bringing absurd comedy out of a situation and his visceral exposures of the stupidity and idiocy of the Las Vegas people and workers are hilarious. He also brilliantly dissects and informs us about the failures of the Nixon administration and the shame and pity of living in the world after the glory of the 1960s.
The influence of Fear and Loathing echoes in the work of numerous journalists and writers- Will Self. Easton Ellis, the fella who wrote Fight Club- who are by comparison mere imitators.
It is easy to forget, in the fallout of his suicide and the confusion of the adaptation, the brilliance of Hunter S Thompson: his wit, power, brutality and acerbity. He escapes easy caterogorisation and labelling to create a voice and a sense of individuality unique in writing. He specified in his own notes for the book that we should read it drunk and to the accompaniment of loud, violent music. In this violent mix, we can still hear the author's voice raving on with candour and wit like a debauched and intoxicated uncle.
To read Fear and Loathing, and to observe the cartoons of Ralph Steadman, is truly to experience something entirely new and different, HST's voice is one you will recognise and agree with without being preached to and you will doubtless appreciate the sheer power of his work. People complain of his alcoholism, anger and failure to repeat his success, but, ultimately, when you hold this book in your hands, none of that really matters. He changed the way we view our leaders and our contrymen. And he did it all drunk. For that alone, he deserves applause.
A true testament to the importance of rebellion.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
My review
The book was in excellent condition when I got it and I am enjoying reading it The artwork is also very good
Published 1 month ago by Pen Name
A true classic & always a favourite
I love this novel. I've loved it for years, and after recently watching the film, I decided to read the book again. Read more
Published 1 month ago by australiaabroad
great and funny boook.... much better than the film
i have seen terry gilliams film many times and found it stimulating and funny but then i picked up the book and it was actually much better and more coherent (if you can use such a... Read more
Published 4 months ago by asp
Classic
This is a drug-addled, bizarre and hilarious literary classic. A real work of genius!!! It is compelling and you won't want to put it down! Buy it!!!!!!
Published 4 months ago by Mr. J. Cottrell
How can we MAINTAIN?
Very few books have made me laugh out loud but this is one of them. Evocative, surreal (and yet always with a toe perilously planted in reality) this meandering plot loosely hinged... Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. White
Be scared
So, what to make of Hunter S. Thompson's jolly jaunt forty-plus years on.
I don't see this as an insight into American culture of the sixties and seventies, it is an... Read more
I don't see this as an insight into American culture of the sixties and seventies, it is an... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mick Read
almost wet my...
two guys, with a suitcase full of every hallucinogenic drug known to man, steal a car and drive from los angeles to vegas - once there they get in to all sorts of madness - this... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Gcrikey
A Mad Adventurous Drug Rampage In Las Vegas
This book documents Hunter's trip to Las Vegas with his attorney 'the Samoan'. He originally went to Vegas to cover a story for Rolling Stone magazine about a race that was taking... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Nathan Strange
Another dimension
This is a grown-up version of Alice in Wonderland - a drug-fuelled fast-paced ride full of hallucination and fantasy with strange creatures weaving in and out of the protagonists'... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
Wild and crazy but in the end too mad for me
I enjoyed the madness and drug fueled haze for the first half of the book, but the found it a bit wearing and ended up giving up before he end. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Manda Moo
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