When Hunter Thompson killed himself a few months ago Jarrod asked me if I was familiar with his works. I wasn't then, but I am now (sort of--thanks to my thesis reading list).
I ended up enjoying Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas much more than I thought I would. It turned out to be nearly exactly the thing I thought it would be: a drug-glazed mind-bending romp through Vegas strip and beyond in the early 70's, except it was also quite funny. He builds a lot of credibility establishing the trends of early 70's drug culture, and wastes some of it lobbing easy grenades at Eisenhower, LBJ, and Nixon, but these are small asides.
Thankfully, Thompson never gives in to pyschadelic indulgences, keeping the narrative for the most part clean with at least one foot planted firmly in reality (which is quite an accomplishment--drugs of numerous varieties are mentioned on nearly every page).
Has anyone seen the movie? I haven't. Is it any good?
Personally, I've always had a sort of instinctive dismal contempt for any author/artist/musician who has taken it upon themselves to end their own lives. Having read one of his works now I regret that Thompson took his, but I can't say I'm surprised, given the crazy stuff he was into.
