New York Times Book Review:
Gonzo Nights
By RICH COHEN
Published: April 17, 2005
....Later he slammed his fist on the counter and said, "Goddamn it, I am the best writer working in America today!"
To make the point, he had me get a copy of ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' down from the shelf. He took a swallow of Chartreuse to clear his throat, then read his words into my tape recorder -- he read slowly and carefully and not at all like journalism:
"There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
"And that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes, you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/books/review/17COHENRE.html
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