Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Thompson, Hunter S - 1971

New York: Random House, 1971 Illustrated by Ralph Steadman. First edition, first printing. Publisher's black cloth-backed gray paper-covered boards, cover embossed with illustration, spine lettered in silver; in the original white pictorial dust jacket designed by Susan Schwaab, lettered in black, red, and blue. Near fine, with some toning along upper and lower edges of boards, and mild spotting to endpapers and text block edges; in a near fine unclipped dust jacket, with light spotting to front and rear panels, and a hint of creasing to top edge of front panel. Overall, a bright and very attractive copy with an unfaded spine. Originally published in Rolling Stone, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the author's best known "failed but essentially noble experiment in Gonzo journalism," a literary genre that subjectively blends truth and fiction. The novel tells of the protagonist Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo as they travel on a drug-fueled, wild adventure "into the heart of the American Dream." The plot is loosely based on the author's actual adventures with American attorney and activist Oscar Zeta Acosta and is supplemented with Thompson's reflections on the 1960's counterculture movement. Ralph Steadman's iconic and grotesquely beautiful illustrations animate Thompson's bizarre journey, assisting the reader in picturing the novel's absurd events. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was adapted into a popular film of the same name, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro, in 1998.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included. Illus. by Steadman, Ralph.