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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage…
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (original 1971; edition 1998)

by Hunter S. Thompson, Ralph Steadman (Illustrator)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
14,347192391 (4.05)12
Records the experiences of a free-lance writer who embarked on a zany journey into the drug culture.
Member:clarathay
Title:Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Authors:Hunter S. Thompson
Other authors:Ralph Steadman (Illustrator)
Info:Vintage (1998), Edition: 2nd, Paperback, 204 pages
Collections:Your library
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Work Information

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

  1. 80
    Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist by Hunter S. Thompson (Scrub)
  2. 30
    A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (mcenroeucsb)
    mcenroeucsb: Books with Delusional/Enlightened Outcast protagonists
  3. 30
    The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (mcenroeucsb)
  4. 10
    The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson (gonzobrarian)
    gonzobrarian: The Curse of Lono may very well be the belated sequel to Fear and Loathing in LV; an older, more refined Thompson has savage epiphany in Hawai'i.
  5. 00
    Moscow Circles by Venedikt Erofeev (ljessen)
  6. 00
    A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd (mcenroeucsb)
    mcenroeucsb: Books with Amusing Rogue protagonists
  7. 00
    The African Safari Papers by Robert Sedlack (mcenroeucsb)
  8. 00
    Budding Prospects by T.C. Boyle (mcenroeucsb)
  9. 00
    Inferno by August Strindberg (andejons)
    andejons: Both are filled with madness, paranoia, and fiction that does a fine job of masquerading as biography.
  10. 12
    Ruminations from the Garden by Don Henry Ford Jr. (infiniteletters)
  11. 13
    On the Road by Jack Kerouac (MyriadBooks)
1970s (28)
1960s (221)
Find (10)
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» See also 12 mentions

English (184)  Swedish (3)  Spanish (2)  All languages (189)
Showing 1-5 of 184 (next | show all)
Kind of laughing at myself for labeling this "travel." ( )
  caedocyon | Feb 23, 2024 |
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. ( )
  quantum.alex | Nov 18, 2023 |
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. ( )
  robfwalter | Jul 31, 2023 |
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. ( )
  Ranjr | Jul 13, 2023 |
I feel guilty for only giving this three stars as I have very fond memories of the movie and I know this is a classic, but I just finished the book and all I can say is "meh." Sometimes funny, sometimes insightful, but not often enough. I'm glad I finally read it though, and will be re-watching the movie to compare. I also plan on reading more of Thompson's work as I can see a glimmer of something bigger going on that isn't quite fully realized in this work. ( )
  veewren | Jul 12, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 184 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (55 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Hunter S. Thompsonprimary authorall editionscalculated
Schwaner, TejaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Steadman, RalphIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." -- Dr. Johnson
Dedication
To Bob Geiger, for reasons that need not be explained here -- and to Bob Dylan, for Mister Tambourine Man
First words
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like 'I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive . . .' And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming, 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'
Quotations
What were we doing out here? What was the meaning of this trip? Did I actually have a big red convertible out there on the street? was I just roaming around these Mint Hotel escalators in a drug frenzy of some kind, or had I really come out here to Las Vegas to work on a story?
Celebrating the 25th anniversary
All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding for three bucks a hit. But their loss and failure is ours, too. What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped to create...a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody-or at least some force-is tending the Light at the end of the tunnel.
Buy the ticket take the Ride
Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas ... with the music at top volume and at least a pint of ether.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Records the experiences of a free-lance writer who embarked on a zany journey into the drug culture.

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