Fear and Loathing Turns 40

A damn fine piece on the classic Hunter Thompson book that has inspired a million acid trips, imitations, a movie, and far less of the conversation I think the good Dr. was trying to elicit in his stoned, quasi-revolutionary readers. I have never quite known how I feel about the book. Part of my thinks it’s an important book; part of me thinks it's self-indulgent tripe. Well, mostly I love it, but I dislike the book’s fans a bit. Kinda like how I admit that the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty is a good record, but I fucking hate Deadheads. Anyway, one commenter in this post makes the argument that the better read, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, is always eclipsed by Thompson’s search for the American dream, whatever that is. I’d agree. Still, like it or not, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is now 40, and, I suspect (though I won’t reread it) not much better for it.