Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda
According to the blurb in the front of this book, it was originally published in pieces in Rolling Stone. I imagine in the early 1970s this was considered high art. But in the year 2000, it is not only dated, which is understandable, but down right stupid. I can’t imagine reading about a several day drug and alcohol binge and finding it interesting. Perhaps this is my cynical viewpoint, but I don’t care to watch someone slowly kill themselves, and put others in danger while they do so.
My local library labels this as an autobiography, and I’ll have to trust them on that. The basic story is that Mr. Thompson and his attorney (!) go to Los Vegas to cover a motorcycle race across the desert. They take the advance money and buy drugs, lots of drugs. Then they drive from L.A. to Los Vegas, under the influence (putting it mildly). The adventures they have in Vegas cover the remainder of the book. But, I have to warn you, while it’s perfectly understandable prose, the action is not, well, respectable.
There are some good commentaries on the culture as it was in the early 1970s, and a few laughs mixed in here and there (particularly the ideas the cops had of what the drug culture was), but overall this strikes me as a self-indulgent, drug-induced ego trip. The illustrations in my edition are the original ones that were in Rolling Stone, and they are interesting. In fact, they almost make the book worth reading. Almost.