VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: ‘Fear and Loathing’ Really Happened
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on March 3, 2023.
Hunter S. Thompson, who died by suicide 18 years ago last Monday, is famous for being a gonzo journalist. So, many of his fans regard his book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as a journal of events that actually occurred.
Actually, that’s not so much their fault, since Random House published the author’s 1972 masterwork under the category of general nonfiction. But Thompson never claimed any of the events described in it were true.
The fact that neither of his main characters was a real person should have been the first clue. The story is narrated by one Raoul Duke, whose traveling companion/attorney is Dr. Gonzo.
In real life, Thompson was assigned by Rolling Stone magazine to write an exposé on civil rights activist and Los Angeles Times columnist Ruben Salazar, whom LA County Sheriff’s officers “accidentally” shot and killed with a tear gas grenade fired at close range during a Vietnam War protest in 1970. After a week or so of asking tough questions around L.A., Thompson grew scared.
