Rating: 
Summary: God, I love this book.
Review: Forget the book-on-a-desert-island question -- if there were only ten books I could take into outer space with me, this would be one of them. Alternately frightening, sickening, and hilarious, _Fear and Loathing_ is indeed an exploration of "the heart of the American Dream."On its surface, this is merely a chronicle of a drug-soaked trip to Las Vegas taken by "Raoul Duke" (Thompson's frequent alter ego) with his 300-pound Samoan attorney (in actuality, Oscar Acosta, his Mexican-American attorney and friend). But to stop the analysis there would be unfair to both the author and the book's subject material. Thompson has claimed that he wrote _Fear_ totally stone-cold sober, that he _imagined_ what the savage sights of Las Vegas would be like under the influence of mind-ripping drugs. And savage they are indeed; Thompson details uniquely American bits of ugliness like conventions of cops, slot machines, down-and-out West Las Vegas diners, machines which project giant images of guests into the Las Vegas sky, and stone-straight Middle Americans visiting the Big City for the first time. If Thompson found the Las Vegas of the early 1970s so mind-ripping, imagine what he would think about today's Disneyfied, sanitized, hyper-commercial Las Vegas... It's important to note that _Fear_ should in no way be considered a serious social commentary. Rather, it is a bitter, over-the-top satire, like much of Thompson's work. But it's precisely the hyperactive satire which makes the book so enjoyable. Some scenes, notably Oscar Acosta's LSD-addled bath and the duo's intentional and savage spooking of a Georgia police chief with lurid (and patently false) stories of cannibalism and blood, are among the most hilarious that Thompson's ever written. Unfortunately, in later years, the drugs apparently got the better of Thompson's brain; his writing began to deteriorate significantly. But _Fear_, along with _Hell's Angels_ and _Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72_, stand as Thompson's best-written and sharpest works. He was at the apex of his career then, his observation skills keen, his prose sharp and biting. If you value social satire and observation, especially from that dark period in our history which began with Jack Kennedy's murder and ended with Gerry Ford, don't miss out on this book.
Rating:
Summary: a classic, better than the movie by a long shot
Review: I had seen the movie before reading this, so I knew more or less what was going to happen. It was still fully entertaining for me mainly because Thompson is such a great writer, and there are minute details in the book that can't be conveyed on film. Thompsone intricately weaves this non-fiction to read like fiction, he has lived an life adventurous life to say the least. Comparing this with kerouacs "on the road", one would think the two should switch places in the genre category, and "on the road" be in non-fiction while this be in fiction. I definitely want to read this again after having finished it less than a month ago, but it will be a while before I get back to it, though I might pick certain scenes out for quick reading before then. Like the high speed turn where his attorney does the big spit from the red shark. Either way this is just great storytelling whether it be true or not.
Rating:
Summary: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Review: Fear and loathing in Las Vegas is a great book about the adventures of Huner Thompson. Hunter is able to do a great job of depicting what he was experiencing during his quest for the american dream. At times I felt as though I was there, he did such a great job. The plot was bizaar but entertaining. At times I felt as though I was miss reading what was going on in the book but realized that it is a book about the use of drugs and the confusion that I was having was the same as his. That makes this book unique. There are very few books that can offer a truely descriptive account on what effect drugs have on you. From scenes in the book where Hunter and his Attourney were tripping on every drug available and known to man kind to when the Hunter was alone going over thoughts in his mind, the book is ironically funny. The irony is that as high as he was, many of his thoughts and philosophies were very rational and down to earth. That "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" a great book because it can draw new aspects on what society is like today.
Rating:
Summary: A good read.
Review: This is a funny look into the american drug culture and one of the evlist cities that exists. Raoul Duke the main character is hilarious in a strange way. He is a very well developed character had me laughing on many occasions. The sheer number of drugs and days withought sleep doing over the top things actually made me feel almost sick. But raoul duke seemed to handle it pretty well. This one is a very fun read, I couldnt put it down, not a boring part.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: The movie is one of my absolute favorites, but with the book, you can use your imagination and turn it into something even crazier. I hilarious and obviously weird book. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the film as well.
Rating:
Summary: A Total Classic from Thompson
Review: OK. I'm not the kind of guy who busts up on public transport. I was on the subway in New York, reading the opening chapter of this glorious tombe, and I laughed so hard that the guy with the little tin cup actually looked at me like I was the nut on the train. HST and his "Lawyer's" drug addled trip through the American southwest, and the consequent meth-soaked hallucination-fest in Vegas, is an absolute, unadultarated classic of Gonzo journalism and a laugh riot second to none. His earlier "Rum Diaries" was beautiful too, but the self-destructive Thompson is at his morbidly amusing best when dipping into a smorgasbord of recreational drugs. What a kick. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Grab a fifth and enjoy the ride
Review: This isn't a book for the Disneylandified Vegas crowd. This is for the off-strip, I've been up for 72 hours, get me another beer, the light is too bright, let it ride crowd. Hunter is at his best covering a race in the desert, attending a drug prevention convention (the irony!) and taking as much alternative substances as his body can handle. And then some. Lost in the world post-60s, he decries (with fear and loathing, of course!) what he sees happening as society backs off of "the high water mark". It's a book about the falacy of the American Dream. Vegas - land of illusion - is the perfect setting for a story that pops the balloon that is the American Dream. Travel with Hunter, and you are there, parking the boat he calls a car onto the sidewalk. You're there chatting it up with the law enforcement officers from Podunk Illinois. You're hoping your ODing mammoth of a friend is calming down. Sometimes runny, this gonzo journalism will surprise you with cutting observations of what is happening to society. Awesome read, that will poke holes in your view of Americana.
Rating:
Summary: I read this entire book in four hours
Review: This book is amazing, but I won't rehash the praise it has already received. To find out why 60's counter-culture failed, and how a grotesque incarnation of Americana was reinstituted in the 70's, look no further than Fear and Loathing. Thompson's twisted observations on life in Las Vegas in the early 70's provide some of the most brilliant insight on the absurdity of what could be construed as Horatio Alger's vision for America. "Here I was, alone in Las Vegas, with this goddamned incredibly expensive car, completely twisted on drugs, no cash, no story for the magazine. And on top of everything else I had a gigantic goddamn hotel bill to deal with...How would Horatio Alger have handled this situation?" Absurd to think about, right? Well so is just about every other question that Thompson poses throughout the book. As one reads through FLLV, one realizes that although Thompson came to terms with the inherent fallacy of the the counter-cultural revolution, he never came to terms with its decline and demise. As such, he is a cultural refugee, a living anachronism. "No more of the speed that fueled that 60's. That was the fatal flaw in Tim Leary's trip. He crashed around America selling "consciousnes expansion" without ever giving a thought to the grim meat-hook realities that were lying in wait for all the people who took him seriously...All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding for three bucks a hit." "My heart was filled with joy. I felt like a monster reincarnation of Horatio Alger" These two beautiful excerpts summarize the essence of the book - that although the the spirit that fueled the sixties ultimately succumbed to the mainstream, that spirit was unique and could not and cannot ever be found again. "...the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. But no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant."
Rating: 
Summary: A cultural artifact
Review: In an attempt to get culturally on-line, I decided to rectify a missing portion of influential pop culture in the form of the guru of gonzo, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. I realized that I had been missing something when I started noticing several biographies on Thompson on the bookstore shelves. If he's being bio'ed, I thought to myself, that must mean he's dead, or as good as. If the account in Fear and Loathing is anywhere near that fickle creature called truth, chances are he's been as good as dead for years now. Fear and Loathing is a cultural artifact, an attempt to tell things as they were in the early 70s, to be totally realistic about the journalistic process, in a true post-modern manner (that is, not separating the teller from the tale). Unfortunately--or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint--it's tough to be totally realistic when you're always strung out on: (take your pick) cocaine, alcohol, methamphetamines, ether, LSD, and numerous other mind-altering substances. As a reader, you find the constant drug taking a little tiring after awhile, not in a bored sense, but in a sense of amazement at how anyone could punish their body so. And the reader is punished somewhat here as well, although when Thompson is funny--as when he and his attorney convince a podunk lawman from Atlanta that drugs are out (crime wise) in L.A., and that the real problem now is satanic rituals--he's found a style and medium that emphasizes and broadens the humor. And I can't say that I didn't like that style--I went out and bought The Great Shark Hunt after finishing this.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the ticket, take the ride!
Review: It's one that will blow you away and leave you shaking your head in utter disbelief. Did Raoul Duk really just do that? Did Dr. Gonzo really just say that? That's what I kept thinking to myself as I was reading Fear and Loathing - and laughing like mad at the same time. I read Fear and Loathing over the weekend and came away enlightened and entertained. As someone who isn't into drugs, I can safely say from the devil's advocate point of view that Fear and Loathing is not just some meaningless drug propoganda that is for slackers and degenerates. When I told others I was reading Fear and Loathing, they all seemed shocked and incredulous and went on to say how they had heard how it's a "drug book". Ladies and gents, for those of you that are so close-minded and PC to think that - you are the exact conformist, obtuse, and sanctimonious individuals that fail to grasp the genius of Hunter S. Thompson. Chase the American Dream with Hunter S. Thompson's alterego, Raoul Duke and his out to lunch attorney, Dr. Gonzo and you will come away with an expanded mindset. Thompson, through all of his wacky and wild dialogue, brings to light the ending of the American Dream at the end of the 60's with the election of Nixon. The drug-induced paranoia and insanity of the Duke and Gonzo likens evolves as a direct metaphor of what the Nixon administration brought upon the whole of America in what Thompson calls "The foul year of our Lord, 1971". "In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught."
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