Book #54: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Hunter S. Thompson

 Released: November 11th, 1971

My 24th book for 2024 was Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.

What a trippy book...lol.  Evidently, this book is listed as "Nonfiction" and "Journalism".  At least that's what the back cover tells us (see below).

If you've never smoked marijuana or done a drug before, you will simply not understand this book.  The best way to describe it is this: picture yourself smoking so much weed that you've become "too high".  So as your mind begins to race.  It tricks you into believing your heart is going to explode, and you feel like you're going to die.  Your anxiety and paranoia spike way up, but you still need to do your job and have a bunch of stuff that you need to get done, so you down an absurd amount of alcohol and you trudge on through it.  Let alone that, it's all happening in a big city.

I've only been to Las Vegas once.  Funny story, I was on this Facebook page, and they were asking what you would put on food that you would have a hard time convincing someone else to try.  I asserted that Killer Burger's "Peanut Butter Bacon Pickle Burger" was the most glorious burger in the world, and any doubters must make a pilgrimage to the Portland, OR area to try it.  If they still didn't like it, then I would respect their opinion, but until then, all bets were off.  I had this awesome lady comment about how her husband loved that burger and frequently mentions it.  I befriended both of them, and I've come to grow rather fond of them.  We all agreed to meet in Vegas in late 2021, however, they came down with COVID, so we had to postpone the trip for a year.  So, December 30th, 2022, I took a 24-hour trip to Las Vegas to meet them.  It was a blast.  I walked all over the city, we walked around a lot of the famous buildings, had some drinks, and really made a cool memory for our first meeting.  

The Sahara is featured in this book, which I found neat because I actually stayed at the Sahara when I was in Vegas.  The only difficult part is, I knew it from a 2022 standpoint.  This book came out 51 years earlier.  But thankfully, one of my biggest interests helped to play a part in me visualizing some of this book.

This book came out in 1971.  The 7th James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever" also came out that same year.  The film also features Las Vegas on location.  Using that as a reference point, I could easily visualize how Las Vegas looked in that time period.  The film also featured such elements as the Circus Circus, Caesar's Palace, and other big attractions for the area.  

While I don't know much about Caesar's Palace, I do know the ill-fated WrestleMania IX took place there back in 1993.  I remember when I was in Vegas, I was trying to figure out where they staged the event.  Turns out, they built a makeshift "stadium" in the parking lot.  The actual arena does not actually exist.

The book jumps all over the place, in a sort of hazy daze.  It makes sense given the content and the context, but as one person once put it, "It reads like a case study on out-of-control paranoia".  I feel more traditional people would be off put by the rampant drug use, however those who can relate or even envision the experience would find it to be an entertaining adventure.

The one thing I will say is that it does showcase just how overblown the "War on Drugs" culture was.  Marijuana has never killed anyone.  It just makes people goofy and increases their appetite.  There are a lot more scarier things out there in the world today that should have more focus.  Granted, this was 50+ years ago, and attitudes have changed a lot with the more modern generations.  

The book also takes some deep shots at the journalism trade and the press.  Something I personally feel foreshadowed what journalism has become today.  I've always been a fan of Walter Cronkite-style journalism.  Be as objective as possible, and do not attempt to sway the opinion of the masses based on personal feelings and perspectives.  I feel this is something lost on the current world of news media and journalism.  Let alone that, the rise of social media has given a voice to the masses, and a megaphone to people who simply do not know how to conduct themselves in a civil manner.  It's interesting to see how the seeds of it spawned itself out of the 1960's counterculture.

My best friend recommended it.  He even lent me the movie to check out.  I think I'll have to pop it in and see how it holds up.  The film was released back in 1998, and features Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.  So, I feel it'll be a good one.  (And if you think it's crazy that I haven't seen it at age 35, you'd be shocked at all the classics I have yet to see).

Here is what I learned:

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• Cars and tape recorders are not easy to round up at 6:30pm on a Friday afternoon in Hollywood.
• Belgian Heliowatts have voice-activated shotgun mics.
• “In a town full of bedrock crazies, nobody even notices an acid freak.”
• Dr Gonzo is staying in room 850.
• The Mint 400 attracts a very special breed.
• Raoul Duke used to live in Big Sur.
• In 1971, possession of marijuana in Nevada would give you 20 years in jail.  The sale of it gave you life imprisonment.
• Ether is a total body drug.
• The Publisher has deleted names of doctors who have provided him drugs.
• San Francisco in the mid-60’s was a special time and place to be a part of.
• Muhammad Ali was originally sentenced to five years in prison for evading the Vietnam War.
• Baker, California has excellent seafood.
• The Majestic Diner in Baker, California has great land-crab.
• Ballantine Ale is unheard of between San Francisco and Newark.
• It is illegal to discharge a firearm of any kind while standing on a federal highway.
• PCP is a Parke-Davis product not sold since 1963.
• The only bedrock rule in Vegas is “Don’t burn the locals.”
• “If Charlie Manson checked into the Sahara tomorrow morning, nobody would hassle him as long as he tipped big.”
• The are four states of being in cannabis society: Cool, Groovy, Hip, and Square.
• The National District Attorney’s Association held their annual conference at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas.
• North Las Vegas is Nevada’s answer to East St Louis.
• “Why bother with newspapers, if this is all they offer?
• "Agnew was right. The press is a gang of cruel f*ggots.  Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for f*ck-offs and misfits—a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.”

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Overall, very interesting book.  If you're looking for a mind-boggling experience, then definitely go and check it out.  If you're a bit more on the traditional end, you probably would not enjoy what you are reading.  

It's popular, and a lot of people enjoy it, while I got the aspects of it, it wasn't my favorite.  So I'll only recommend for people who want an unconventional novel.

On to Book #55: Rambo III by David Morrell.