Uppers Are Going Out of Style
by Daniel Tucker
Review of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson (Random House, 1971)
I had a pretty hard time entering the story of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas because I do not totally buy the proposal that Las Vegas is the site of the American Dream. Maybe that is because I’ve never been there? While I think the Dream is much more abstract that any place can really encapsulate, I’m just much more convinced by the proposals that try to locate the dream symbolically in the Capitol like Martin Luther King Jr. did or in California like Joan Didion and the Beach Boys did.
What I connected with more was Thompson’s assessment of the death of the 60s. On page 178 he proposes that “Uppers are going out of style” which I think is a great way to depict what happens when ideas and culture become fashion. They get watered down. He continues, “No doubt they got what was coming to them. All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy peace and understanding for three bucks a hit”.
Thompson ripped journalism apart, he is from Louisville and so am I, and he understood many of the problems that the 60s left us sorting through. Those are the things I can appreciate about him. But Gonzo style and looking for the Las Vegas in our heads just do not resonate for me.
by Daniel Tucker
Review of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson (Random House, 1971)
I had a pretty hard time entering the story of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas because I do not totally buy the proposal that Las Vegas is the site of the American Dream. Maybe that is because I’ve never been there? While I think the Dream is much more abstract that any place can really encapsulate, I’m just much more convinced by the proposals that try to locate the dream symbolically in the Capitol like Martin Luther King Jr. did or in California like Joan Didion and the Beach Boys did.
What I connected with more was Thompson’s assessment of the death of the 60s. On page 178 he proposes that “Uppers are going out of style” which I think is a great way to depict what happens when ideas and culture become fashion. They get watered down. He continues, “No doubt they got what was coming to them. All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy peace and understanding for three bucks a hit”.
Thompson ripped journalism apart, he is from Louisville and so am I, and he understood many of the problems that the 60s left us sorting through. Those are the things I can appreciate about him. But Gonzo style and looking for the Las Vegas in our heads just do not resonate for me.
...I thought folks might enjoy this obscure video with Thompson and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones.
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