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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780679785897 |
Powells.com Staff Pick
When Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer bought the Modern Library in 1925, its mission was ? and still is ? to provide attractive, hardcover editions of important works of literature and thought to serious readers on a budget. The Modern Library became the foundation on which Cerf built Random House and, in time, the largest and most diverse publishing empire in the country. It's hard to believe, though, that Cerf could have imagined his beloved Modern Library one day including in its list of "important works of literature" a book such as Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Who could have? When Thompson's masterpiece was first published in Rolling Stone in 1971, it took literally everyone by surprise. Thompson's deranged tour of the more psychotic corners of the American psyche was so original it marked the beginning of a new literary genre. According to Thompson, "gonzo journalism" is "a style of 'reporting' based on William Faulkner's idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism..." Coming from a journalist, this sounds suspiciously like a ready-made excuse for not doing your job. And, in fact, Fear and Loathing recounts a failed journalistic assignment. Thompson accepted an assignment by a sports magazine to cover a motorcycle race in Las Vegas. Of course, it's difficult to concentrate on the "Mint 400" when your weekend's supply of drugs includes:
...two bags of grass, 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 a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls....
And during the course of their brief trip to Vegas, Thompson and his Samoan lawyer sidekick manage to ingest the lot. Not surprisingly, they spend the weekend by turns manic, depressed, incoherent, paranoid, and completely out of their minds. Nonetheless, though Thompson couldn't see in front of his car for the hallucinatory bats flying in his hair, his vision had never been clearer. He may not have fulfilled his contract, but he did get his story. Today, this picaresque romp through hell is widely acknowledged the greatest literary portrait of the sixties drug culture and one of the most terrifying — and hilarious — visions of the state of the American union ever written. Bennett Cerf may never have personally included such a book in his Modern Library list, but he would most certainly have approved.
This twenty-fifth-anniversary edition features Ralph Steadman's original drawings and three companion pieces selected by the author: "Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan," and "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved." Farley, Powells.com
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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
-
AciDTrip, September 10, 2006 (view all comments by AciDTrip)
Seriously, if there was a higher number than 5, id rate this book higher. This story is basically about 2 guys in the early 70's who take a trip through Death Valley to Las Vegas, where they spend most of their time committing capitol fraud by checking into hotel rooms with fake names and trashing them, tripping out on a number of different drugs such as mescaline, acid, cocaine and ether, and suffering from severe paranoia. There really is no story to it, but thats what makes it my favourite book. I highly recommend this book and the movie as well. The movie was made in 1998 and stars Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke, Benicio Del Toro as Dr. Gonzo, and camoes include, Gary Busey, Christina Ricci, and Cameron Diaz.....Trippy movie and kick ass soundtrack!
-
AciDTrip, September 10, 2006 (view all comments by AciDTrip)
Seriously, if there was a higher number than 5 to rate this book, id rate it higher. Basically this story is about 2 guys in the early 70's who take a trip to Las Vegas. Their time in Vegas is spent tripping out on a number of different drugs, and committing capitol fraud by checking into hotels with fake names. Theres not much of a story like your everyday novel, but its definetly my favourite book.
If you read this book, be sure to check out the movie. It was made in 1998 and stars Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio Del Toro as Dr.Gonzo...camoes include Gary Busey, Christina Ricci, and Cameron Diaz. Trippy movie and awesome soundtrack!
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Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780679785897
- Subtitle:
- A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Vintage Books USA
- Location:
- New York :
- Subject:
- Biography
- Subject:
- United States - 20th Century/60s
- Subject:
- Journalism
- Subject:
- Popular Culture
- Subject:
- Journalists
- Subject:
- Thompson, hunter s., 1937-
- Subject:
- Thompson, Hunter S
- Subject:
- Journalists -- United States -- Biography.
- Subject:
- Popular Culture - General
- Copyright:
- 1971
- Edition Number:
- 2
- Edition Description:
- 2nd Vintage Books ed.
- Series Volume:
- FS-081-98
- Publication Date:
- May 1998
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Yes
- Pages:
- 224
- Dimensions:
- 8.00x5.18x.59 in. .53 lbs.
