Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Downloads：2103
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-04-25 08:53:26
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Hunter S. Thompson
- ISBN：0679785892
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Bob O'G
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"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold。" That's it。 That's the first line of the book and that simple statement propels the reader into a 200 page drug fueled odyssey through Las Vegas and the surrounding nothingness。 The mileage any reader will get out of this depends solely on how willing he/she is to put up with an insane narrator。 （Drug induced insanity of course）。 All of what happens in the "plot" is through the perspective of a man und "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold。" That's it。 That's the first line of the book and that simple statement propels the reader into a 200 page drug fueled odyssey through Las Vegas and the surrounding nothingness。 The mileage any reader will get out of this depends solely on how willing he/she is to put up with an insane narrator。 （Drug induced insanity of course）。 All of what happens in the "plot" is through the perspective of a man under the influence which makes it unreliable and ridiculous。 But that is the point。 His brain is so riddled with hallucinations and conspiracies that you feel like you're reading some batshit horror/fantasy novel。 For me， the book was short enough to be fascinating and hilarious。 It was comforting to know that you could zone out at any point， continue reading after a few missed paragraphs， and really not miss a thing。 （I didn't do this， but the story really is one long trip which makes it a tad repetitive。） I was not in any way a fan of the movie。 However， reading the book shows an author with undeniable talent who was able to turn a journey full of incohesion into a cohesive experience。 Standout scenes for me involved the main character explaining what one should do if a cop attempts to pull him over。 His explanation is wild， counter-intuitive nonsense that made me laugh out loud。 The same thing happened when he and his lawyer crash an anti-drug convention put on by law enforcement and are forced to listen to the "experts" speak about the very drugs our they are tripping on。 This is not a book for everyone， but I think avid readers， sober or not， should check it out。Notable quote: "Reading the front page made me feel a lot better。 Against that heinous background， my crimes were pale and meaningless。" 。。。more
Jenny
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I didn't really understand this book。 Its a Vegas adventure by two guys high on drugs。 It makes no sense and I suppose that was the aim。 I didn't really understand this book。 Its a Vegas adventure by two guys high on drugs。 It makes no sense and I suppose that was the aim。 。。。more
Paxtin Spencer
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Fun book， don’t think the main characters and I would get along very much
Brooks
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Felt like I went on a drug trip throughout the book。 93 pages。
Mia Russman
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DRUGS AHHHH
Tom Bufton
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First book i’ve read in about 8 years， thoroughly enjoyed; never drops the pace for a moment ！gassed to be back into reading roll on the next book xxx
Dasha
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4。5**
Jerrid Kruse
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More interesting than I thought it was going to be。 Maybe I’ll be able to watch the movie now。
daniela ❀
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seen the movie twice， finally read the book… still can’t tell you what was happening 90% of the time 🤷🏻♀️but I love it anyway 🥰
EmeJota
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La mística de la autodestrucción， con su discurso de no puedo soportar que mi sociedad sea imperfecta por lo que tengo una excusa para joderme el cerebro con drogas， violar a menores bajo sumisión química y estafar a los demás porque son todos unos “comemierdas”， envejece mal。 Wow， que divertido es aterrorizar a pobres camareras （ironía）。
Toni
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I don't get it？ I obviously need cliff notes because this was weird and zero funny？Only 2 chapters in and I knew it wasn't for me I don't get it？ I obviously need cliff notes because this was weird and zero funny？Only 2 chapters in and I knew it wasn't for me 。。。more
Ben Rogers
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Mediocre book alertThis was just an okay read。 I did enjoy the way it was written。 I wasn't a huge fan of the rampant substance abuse， but sure， it was par with the times（view spoiler）[ at that time， at times - as timely as it can be for a time （hide spoiler）]。 Anyways， sure。 2。8/5 Mediocre book alertThis was just an okay read。 I did enjoy the way it was written。 I wasn't a huge fan of the rampant substance abuse， but sure， it was par with the times（view spoiler）[ at that time， at times - as timely as it can be for a time （hide spoiler）]。 Anyways， sure。 2。8/5 。。。more
julia k
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guys being dudes in an annoying way
Stefan
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A genuinely funny book。 I found myself chuckling throughout the unhinged misadventures the protagonist goes through over the course of a few drug-soaked nights in Vegas。 The problem is that it fails to be much more than that。 Perhaps it's the point， but the characters that do get attention for more than a couple pages don't really get much depth to them beyond their desperate dependence on a number of drugs in order to accelerate through every day at breakneck speed。 And while these cardboard cu A genuinely funny book。 I found myself chuckling throughout the unhinged misadventures the protagonist goes through over the course of a few drug-soaked nights in Vegas。 The problem is that it fails to be much more than that。 Perhaps it's the point， but the characters that do get attention for more than a couple pages don't really get much depth to them beyond their desperate dependence on a number of drugs in order to accelerate through every day at breakneck speed。 And while these cardboard cutouts are， as I said above， often funny and also might be useful for whatever themes about the American dream Thompson wanted to convey， they don't strike me as particularly interesting or engaging beyond that。 I felt as though I could have not read the second half of the book and gotten about the same experience as I did reading the entire thing。Still an enjoyable read， and not a long one either， but I struggled to find anything here that will keep me thinking about this novel a year or two from now。 。。。more
Merrell Guzman
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This book has been on my to-read list for a while and I still wasn’t expecting how wild it is。 Had to look up a lot of cultural references， but once I leaned into the book as more of a period piece/comment on the times I appreciated it much more than as a story with a clear plot or character development。
Salster
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More like 3，5 stars！ A surprisingly easy read， not gonna book a flight to Vegas anytime soon though。。。
Jenny
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What a trip
Davide Mastromatteo
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Un racconto lisergico nella Las Vegas degli anni 70。
Phoebe
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“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 that Light at the end of the tunnel。”
Donald Yann
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I read this about 30 years ago and did not recall most of it。 I believe I got more from it this reading。 A stream of consciousness head trip searching for the American dream。
Marco
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A hilarious and demented manic exploration of the American Dream fueled by a copious amount of powerful narcotics and helmed by two self-acclaimed ne'erdowells。 A hilarious and demented manic exploration of the American Dream fueled by a copious amount of powerful narcotics and helmed by two self-acclaimed ne'erdowells。 。。。more
Travis Zeigler
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One of the 100 books I’d want if trapped on an island or in solitary confinement。A big pour of Alice In Wonderland， a tiny splash of Burroughs without the poor me and my trust fund and insecurity about my utter lack of machismo spiel， shots all around at The Grateful Dead house in Haight， acid Kool-Aid with Ken Kesey and The Doors， a few lines as a pick-me-up Keith Richards got from a Hell’s Angel， and 5 Valiums and ginger ale as his babysitters at Rolling Stone tuck him in…The good doctor wasn’ One of the 100 books I’d want if trapped on an island or in solitary confinement。A big pour of Alice In Wonderland， a tiny splash of Burroughs without the poor me and my trust fund and insecurity about my utter lack of machismo spiel， shots all around at The Grateful Dead house in Haight， acid Kool-Aid with Ken Kesey and The Doors， a few lines as a pick-me-up Keith Richards got from a Hell’s Angel， and 5 Valiums and ginger ale as his babysitters at Rolling Stone tuck him in…The good doctor wasn’t some murderous drug lord with a super short shelf life and tens of millions he couldn’t spend who lived/hid in some fortress called a mansion until his enemies tortured him and his family to death。 He was the original in your face - LORD ON HIGH OF RECREATIONAL DRUGS in literature taken seriously by big money - This is his masterpiece; most of us think。 From page one BANG his descriptions cause guffaws and dropped jaws。 BOOM his briefcase full of every illegal and prescription narcotic excepting heroin。 He did have black tar opium though - which is technically very weak heroin usually smoked or eaten， but sadly also injected by those nearing bottom or death。 I love that this book teaches you about so much other shit because I read my Dad’s first edition at age 13 weeks before the movie came out - and I’d never heard of ether before。 See school superintendents - This is basically a textbook hahahaha…。 But anyway， the black tar heroin is where they scrape the pure， ripe， poppy gum right from the fields （Mexico started producing all this opium in the 1870’s for all the injured civil war addicts in the US。 This was because even though you didn’t need a prescription for narcotics until 1917， there were so many millions of veterans， housewives， poor little rich kids， and just plain desperate addicts in those days before fast transport especially so everyone was always waiting or seeking， and doctors and pharmacists could and did usually cut off abusers telling them they were just being weak。 So the semi-legal routes from Asia to pharmaceutical companies couldn’t keep up and Mexico just added buckets of opium with the bootleg booze wagons and later trucks， and paid off every border sheriff。） into big metal farm buckets like for milking， with a couple solvents like gasoline is used for cocaine often。 The solvent（s？） separates all the psychoactive opiates existing naturally in the poppy gum from the useless plant matter。 Mostly the black tar is codeine， morphine， and just a couple percent heroin。 The Mexicans didn’t think of it like art or cooking in that early stage。 It was just another thing gringos always wanted more of。 Except for one very big difference。 So the elite， high-level alcohol bootleggers felt like absolute geniuses running business with 1，000-10，000% profit margins。 When they found out the black tar at street level would generate 1，000，000% profit margin - 10，000 times the cost to produce - they quite literally couldn’t grow enough fast enough。 Not enough safe land not needed for food and opium is slow-growing。 And I recently saw a cop show that implied the same organization still runs flawlessly because they pay US law enforcement officials like we pay the IRS。 And anyone who says they don’t have a price hasn’t been given a choice on a desk of a brick of money next to the alternative - pictures of his kids with X’s over their faces。After opening the briefcase they dig right in。 Hunter and his “attorney”/best buddy experience the terrifyingly hilarious， insane effects of days of sustained poly-use of 7/8 of those hard narcotics with booze like goddamn fish added to the toxic waste buffet and no sleep - So even at 13 I knew some was obviously exaggerated a bit。 He stretched the truth， but was incapable or disinterested to the point of being deadpan at exaggerating his feelings。 The writing style he created then coined as Gonzo is his unique but too often imitated by charlatans freewheeling style of extreme counterculture journalism， fiction， and often combining the two。 。。。more
Caitlin
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4。5
Sadie Merath
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Been on my top 10 list for many many years 🐸
Jamie O'Brien
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Hilarious and wild。 A hysterically fun book。
Nosrac Schell
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Def one of my all time favorites
Z。
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he just like me frfr
Liam Eckert
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What a beautiful heartfelt book。 One of the reasons people read is to read about someone else's experience and find similarly in their own。 Like meeting a new friend and finding you have so much in common with them。 This book did that for me。 What a beautiful heartfelt book。 One of the reasons people read is to read about someone else's experience and find similarly in their own。 Like meeting a new friend and finding you have so much in common with them。 This book did that for me。 。。。more
Colin Rink
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'We weee somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold。'Great intro for a great book。 I have seen the film many times but always a book I wanted to check out。 This review is based on the audiobook I listened to on audible， great and clear voice acting， for me very well done。 The quest to find the American dream has been a modern exploration over several decades。 Hunter S。 Thompson does a great job showing things for what they are; the pursuit with his attor 'We weee somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold。'Great intro for a great book。 I have seen the film many times but always a book I wanted to check out。 This review is based on the audiobook I listened to on audible， great and clear voice acting， for me very well done。 The quest to find the American dream has been a modern exploration over several decades。 Hunter S。 Thompson does a great job showing things for what they are; the pursuit with his attorney， the drug use and mischief， I couldn't help but be sucked in。 The descriptions and flow of the book are very good， and he strikes a chord even if on a subconscious level， of the discovery of one's self and place in society; and to discover and trap the big white whale and say that you've found exactly what you're looking for。 In the end for me， the book is the realization that the goal was unattainable and impossible to achieve because it didn't really exist。 Or， maybe the goal ended up being so changed and convoluted from the perception of what the goal is， it becomes an alternate discovery。 Even if I am completely off the mark， it was intriguing and I'm glad I read it。 I really enjoyed and would recommend this book。 Even though the film was fantastic， like so many other books， a lot more to the story when you read and dive into it， and hard to express everything in this review。 。。。more
Alex
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