Drugs. They are a problem in America. But for every man looking for the great American dream, they are essential. Hunter S. Thompson has been described as a man who “elicits the same kind of admiration one would feel for a streaker at Queen Victoria's funeral”. The highlight of his career was his 1971 book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that became a movie starring Johnny Depp and Bencio Del Toro.

The novel begins with an awe-inspiring introduction by Thompson:

"....The sporting editors had also given me $300 in cash, most of which was already spent on extremely dangerous drugs. The trunk of the car looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-coloured uppers, downers, screamers, laughers ... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.”

This, of course, reveals the adventure that will soon begin for our heroes.

Of course, this novel should be taken with a grain of salt… or cocaine, depending on your point of view. Journalists and exhibitionists alike should enjoy the novel and movie for many different reasons.

Name: Shaun
Year: Soon-to-be-Grad
Major: English
Comments:
Uh, Jed...about that "Fitzgerald of the 20th century" remark...when I last checked the "Fitzgerald of the 20th Century" WAS Fitzgerald himself

Name: Jed Arnold
Year: junior
Major: media studies
Comments:
Ever since the movie you mentioned starring Johnny Depp (who is a personal friend of the good doctor and holds a closer resemblance to HST than Bill Murray in "Where the Buffalo Roam") people have forgotten or overlooked the point HST was trying to make. In the foul year of 1971 society was changing and the counter culture had finally figured out that Tim Leary was a fraud. The book itself is even called a savage journey into the heart of the American dream. The movie and novel are about the loss of placement and disillusionment. To characterize HST as only a drug induced madman is incorrect. You are speaking of a writer that has been described by the New York Times as the "Fitzgearld of the Twentith Century." Within the first few pages of the novel the reader gets the sense of this when HST comments on John Lennon's "Power to the People" playing on the radio and saying its ten years to late. Just look at his other books such as Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 or perhaps the first collection of his letters the Proud Highway where after hearing of the death of JFK, HST coins the term Fear and Loathing.

Name: Dr. Gonzo
Comments:
Of course I'm a Doctor of Journalism...and that was no Journalism...excuse me I have to see a lounge lizard about some Adrenocrome

Name: Blitzkreig!!
Comments:
Look out, man! Don't get out here, it's bat country!