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 | Hunter S. Thompson | An Aquired Taste

books:

Fear and Loathing ...

	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream Hunter S. Thompson Vintage, 1998 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 417 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

hilarious!

If you are looking for a good laugh and are not offended by drugs, lewd behavior, and hooliganism, then I would highly recommend this book. 90% of the story takes place while the two main characters are doped up on various drugs or combinations of them, and the consequences are hilarious. I laughed most of the way through.

On a deeper level, I'm guessing there's also some kind of deep social commentary about the condition of America during the early 1970s. However, I'm only 20 years old and I'm pretty sure most of it went right over my head. I did notice a tinge of sadness in some parts, which I think has something to do with the end of an era and the elusive American Dream, but like I said--right over my head. Even without a complete understanding of the underlying social commentary, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

If you're looking for a funny diversion that's easy to read and entertaining, I'd highly recommend this title.

for more information click here

An Aquired Taste

There are a lot of people that read this entry into Thompson's bewildering collection of Fear And Loathing writings for Rolling Stone, and totally bog down their experience by looking for some kind of profound meaning to the entire drug addled tale. I will say it is an aquired taste. But the meaning of the story in itself is not so much something deep to be dug out of the ether-soaked meat of this story, as much as it's an all but invisible patina on the surface that requires you to almost put yourself in Raoul Duke's place to pick out. One of the most poignant and memorable parts of this book for me, is Thompson's oddly lucid lament on "The Great San Francisco Acid Wave" which seems to be going somewhere important; seems to be heading for that great profound message that most look for when reading this but seems to cut itself short before it gets there. And to me, that's the lesson. All the drugs in the world weren't going to get those people any closer to some profound truth, especially when it all wore off and reality sank back in. Reading that passage lets me experience the anti-climax that must have shattered the hope of those poor hippies...

Beyond all the imagined literary truth of this story is the blistering social commentary on Las Vegas and the United States in the early 70's, which makes the book worth reading by itself.

And beyond all that high-brow nonsense is a wild ride through the "Freak Kingdom" of Thompson's memories of that decade. Painfully hilarious in some places, and jumbled enough to make you FEEL like you're on drugs by the time it ends (far too quickly), Fear And Loathing reads like a person coming down off of that bewildering kit-bag of poison telling war stories from his days on the edge. If you are a fan of the movie, I highly recommend this ridiculously entertaining book.

Not recommended for kids, or any other person who lacks the common sense to realize that Thompson is showing you exactly why you shouldn't eat "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..."

Also not recommended for people trying to find a method to this genius' madness.

"Buy the ticket, take the ride."

for more information click here

Sometimes you just have to give it another chance

I have read this book about a dozen times, and I won't lie, the first few times were hard. I wasn't sure if I even understood this book, let alone liked it. My husband was a big fan, and convinced me to give the book another shot one day- and am I happy he did. I got it. It is funny, sad, crazy and weird. It's a journey that I am happy I took, and will take again. It is one of those book that each and every time you read it you will take away something new and fresh. Great read. Try it, you will like it.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

products you might be interested in