FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS - Hunter S. Thompson.

Here is a book I finished in 1998, as you can tell by the cover the movie had already been released.

The idea to read this book came from a preexisting love of Hunter S. Thompson which I developed after reading Fear and Loathing:  On the Campaign Trail '72.  (which will be reviewed in this blog)  I originally heard of Hunter S. Thompson after seeing a Bill Murray movie called; Where the Buffalo Roam. which I saw with my father as a young boy.


Without giving too much away, as it has been some time since last reading; the book revolves around a journalist's deranged road trip to Las Vegas to cover a racing event taking place in the desert for the magazine that employs him.

The main Character ( Raoul Duke - based on Dr. Thompson) is accompanied by his Samoan 'attorney'(Dr.Gonzo - based on real life activist; Oscar Zeta Acosta), whose sole advice is to rent a red convertible and fill the trunk with booze and drugs for their consumption. The sporting assignment is sadly never covered due to large clouds of dust the racers stir up from the desert sand. Raoul returns to his hotel where he and Dr.Gonzo destroy a hotel room and rack up an insanely large hotel room-service bill.
They consume more than enough drugs and hit the streets of Las Vegas in a drug induced frenzy, eventually concluding their time together after Dr. Gonzo's disturbing display of violence.
At some point in the story Raoul tries to flee Vegas, but he is forced to return after an unfortunate experience with the highway patrol. It seems as if he keeps getting sucked back in.
Later in the book, Dr. Gonzo finds Raoul another assignment; covering a DA convention on illegal drugs, a convention filled with lawmen from around America; not the place for a drug crazed lunatic-journalist.  Gonzo and Raoul are reunited shortly after; again they embark on their usual bouts of over the top drug consumption and destroy yet another hotel room.  The pair eventually split again and Raoul returns to LA, escaping the large bills for damages he and Gonzo have accrued at their various hotel visits. 
 
I recommend this book to all fans of 1960's hippy culture.  Dr. Thompson's famous "wave speech" included in this book almost entirely condenses the totality of the 'hippy movement' with just a few paragraphs.  That in particular is one of the reasons I love Hunter S. Thompson's writing; he has an incredible ability to paint for his readers an exact portrait of even something like a generation - even when the reader (like myself) was not there to experience it first hand.  For anyone who has no desire to read this book, I still strongly recommend reading that short piece if literary genius; the 'wave speech' that is. (Google it)

This book is 204 pages long and was easily read over the course of 2 days.

On my sliding scale I give this book a solid 9/10 based on the sheer force of the story telling.   The thought that Dr. Thompson and his actual attorney actually did experience some of the things written about in this book increases the enjoyability of reading.