November 11, 1971: “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas” Is Published

November 11, 1971: Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is published. Since he was admittedly on drugs the whole time, he may have been the least reliable "unreliable narrator" of all time.

The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Oscar Acosta, known in real life as "Zeta" and in the book as "Doctor Gonzo," as they travel to Las Vegas, to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960s countercultural movement.

Born on July 18, 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky, Thompson served in the U.S. Air Force, and became famous in 1967 with Hell's Angels, which he wrote after living with the motorcycle club of the same name for a year. In 1970, he satirized his hometown's biggest event, writing "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for the magazine Scanlan's Monthly. He became known for his bucket hat and sunglasses, and always smoking a cigarette through a holder like Franklin Roosevelt.

Thompson once said, "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." Because of the Doctor Gonzo character, his writing, and that of his copycats, became known as "Gonzo Journalism." The name may also have inspired the names of Gonzo the Great, operated by Dave Goetz on The Muppet Show, and Dr. G. Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates, played by Gregory Harrison on Trapper John, M.D.

Acosta went on a trip to Mexico in 1974, and never came back. As with the writer Ambrose Bierce, who went to Mexico in 1913 and was never again seen in America, his body has never been found, but he was quickly presumed dead.

Thompson wrote several other books, including Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. He was a leftist, except for one issue: He was a gun nut. On February 20, 2005, noting that, at 67, he had lived 17 years longer than he'd wanted, and was ill, Thompson shot and killed himself at his home in rural Woody Creek, Colorado.

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas was long considered unfilmable, probably because, before the era of computer-generated imagery (CGI), the special effects needed to match Thompson's drug-induced hallucinations would have been too expensive. A film version was finally released in 1998. Not surprisingly, the director who took it on was Terry Gilliam, Monty Python member and director of Time Bandits, Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Johnny Depp played Duke, and Benicio del Toro played Dr. Gonzo.

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November 11, 1971 was a Thursday. Actor David DeLuise, son of actor Dom DeLuise, was born.

There were 2 games in the NBA. The New York Knicks lost to the Golden State Warriors, 112-103 at Madison Square Garden. And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 110-91 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. 

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The Carolina Cougars beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 127-109 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. And the Utah Stars beat the Denver Rockets, 112-106 at the Denver Auditorium Arena.

And there were 3 games in the NHL:

* The Boston Bruins beat the California Golden Seals, 5-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.