gkuppinger 's review for:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
5.0
adventurous funny reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i feel like i need to take a shower after finishing this book. it was genuinely so much fun and one of the craziest books i've ever read, and I felt like I was on acid the entire time. according to my search history, I searched on safari 6 different times for the names of drugs mentioned in this book, some of which i didn't even know were used recreationally. hunter s thompson's writing is so erratic but satisfying, and his use of profanity was oddly so good despite how often it appeared (for context, the word "fuck" is written 84 times and "shit" 59 times throughout this book. mind you, "fear and loathing" is only 200 pages long).

however, there is so much more to this novel than cataloguing a week-long bender with two of the worst people you'll ever meet; there is so much interesting commentary on crime, the american dream, and america in the 1970s subtly appearing in the story. as someone who visited vegas just last week, I can confirm with hunter s. thompson's musings that it may be the worst tourist attraction in the country. this book is an absolute masterclass in irony: there's something so amusing about raoul and gonzo telling another man in a vegas bar about how los angeles is full of drug-crazed criminals, while they themselves are high out of their minds and drinking whiskey. also, the part where they asked a diner waitress to help them find the "american dream", only for her to direct them to a nightclub that burned down at the end of the 1960s, serving as a clear metaphor on the state of america moving away from the psychadelic, countercultural era. i enjoyed myself thoroughly and plan to read another of his books soon. 

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