This book can be summarized as drugs, more drugs, different drugs, and the way the brain processes information with the drugs. Serious and innocent events make journalist Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo reason in bizarre ways about what they portent. Driving around under the influence of drugs, using some drugs to counter the effects of other drugs, and not sleeping for days at time sets the pace for a series of outlandish events. Duke is meant to cover the Mint 400 race but it was too dusty to see anything so the time was better spend being intoxicated. When Duke thought he was done with Las Vegas, he was forced to go back to cover a seminar discussing drugs and dangerous substances. The convention was attended by many cops, with the intoxicated Duke and Gonzo who left shortly after understanding that they knew more about the drugs than the speakers. A well written story which Thompson’s clarify makes the hallucinations even more hilarious. ( )

Kind of laughing at myself for labeling this "travel." ( )

I will likely need to reread, but the well-written—sometimes even post-modernist (which, in moderation, works terribly well but in excess is exhausting)—deep first of a snapshot of an American period with all its depravity and lost opportunity will leave your intellect reeling. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book. I've never found drug stories funny or entertaining in themselves. When someone is relating how incredibly drunk their friend was and describing the stupid things they did, and everyone else is falling about with laughter, I just find myself bored and wondering what I'm missing. So you took drugs and then behaved in a way consistent with the effects of those drugs? I'm sorry, but I can't see what is interesting about that.

In fact, I can't help but think of all the people who were around you while you were using drugs, or who have to clean up after you - the people who have to walk past your "hilarious" spew on their way to work, the workers who have to put up with your selfish behaviour and so on. Which is not to say that I'm anti-drugs. I use drugs recreationally and so do my friends and family - I just think it's as important to be respectful of others while using drugs as while doing any other activity. The two main characters in this book are not respectful of others while using drugs.

So, fundamentally, this book is about a couple of men being selfish, disrespectful and even actively harmful while - and this is the part I found disappointing - absolutely nothing deeper happens. Apart from scattering the phrase "American Dream" throughout the book - almost at random as far as I could tell - this book didn't even attempt to tell a deeper story. There's a bit of shallow stuff about the sixties being over, and maybe that was profound and insightful at the time this book was published, but it didn't show me anything new and it didn't seem to relate to the events in the book. It's possible to write a good book about horrible people being horrible, but it has to be better written and deeper than I found this book to be. ( )

I liked it, the movie adaptation is almost too faithful to parts of it (I saw the movie first awhile ago) so parts of it were almost too familiar. All-in-all I think I'll give reading anymore of Hunter S. Thompson's stuff a break for a while. Parts of this book were funny, poignant/apt, and interesting but it also has its share of tedious bits and I think alot of the political commentary/satire was lost on me. From what I've read of his work, these points are often scattershot throughout his work making them feel a little uneven to me. Frankly, I enjoyed Hell's Angels better but if someone would want to read this book I definitely wouldn't steer them away from it. ( )