Books

First edition in book form, first printing. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was first published in November 1971 as a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine. It was adapted into a film by Terry Gilliam in 1998, featuring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro in the lead roles. "Written in the voice of Thompson's alter ego, Raoul Duke, a cynical, chain-smoking, whiskey-guzzling, gun-loving connoisseur of illicit drugs, [Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas] chronicled the chemically enhanced adventures of Duke and his companion, Dr. Gonzo, as they explored the crassness of American culture" (ANB). It is Thompson's most famous book, and its blend of fact and fiction initiated the genre of "gonzo journalism", which rejected objectivity and placed the writer or reporter at the centre of the story. Octavo. Original black quarter cloth, spine lettered in silver, grey boards with Ralph Steadman design to front cover in blind. With dust jacket. Illustrated title page and 19 line drawings by Steadman. Ownership signature of "P. Cady" on front pastedown. Spine slightly cocked, edges sunned, top edge foxed; edges of jacket foxed with a few nicks, bright and unclipped. A very good copy. .

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.