Submissions for #FirstLineFriday are officially closed now. My thanks to all who emailed me with their guesses. Today, we have two winners: Darlene Foster and Sarah Brentyn. And I’ve decided to add a new feature to this Winner post: the link to each winner’s Author’s Page. I hope you’ll all enjoy being able to learn more about what these good folks have written and how to buy their books. And I also hope it inspires more of you to take a guess each week.
Darlene Foster’s Author Page can be found HERE.
Sarah Brentyn’s Author Page can be found HERE.
Congratulations to both of you, and I hope you enjoy your prizes.
And now, here’s the answer to today’s quiz:
“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold” is the opening line of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a 1971 novel by Hunter S. Thompson and illustrated by Ralph Steadman.
The book is a roman à clef, rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960s countercultural movement.
The work is Thompson’s most famous book, and is noted for its lurid descriptions of illegal drug use and its early retrospective on the culture of the 1960s. Its popularization of Thompson’s highly subjective blend of fact and fiction has become known as gonzo journalism.
The novel first appeared as a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine in 1971, and was published as a book in 1972. It was later adapted into a film of the same title in 1998 by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro who portrayed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, respectively. The novel lacks a clear narrative and frequently delves into the surreal, never quite distinguishing between what is real and what is only imagined by the characters.
NOTE: I wish I could tell you I’ve read the book or seen the movie, but even in 1971, it seemed a bit over the top for me. I do, however, think that opening line is a real grabber, and I’m glad we had some winners this week! 🙂 (And I must say, this cover certainly looks quite fitting. 😀 )
Buy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas HERE
That wraps it up for this week, folks. Thanks so much for taking part, and I hope you’ll stay tuned for another #FirstLineFriday quiz next week. See you then!
But I’m a writer, and a writer always has to have a means of capturing inspiration. Even when I carted my Mac around, I kept a paper notebook handy…
The Write Stuff 