FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

With his likable husky voice, Ron McClarty gives an entertaining reading of Thompson's wild tale of alter ego Raoul Duke and his Samoan attorney, who are on a mind-altered road trip to America's dark heart--Las Vegas. McClarty's take on the attorney is particularly amusing. As Duke, he gets across Thompson's bewilderment, paranoia, and humorous despair, sometimes sounding like Jack Nicholson (who would have made a perfect Duke), and avoids the mistake of imitating the real Thompson. But he doesn't adequately convey the character's dangerousness and edgy scorn, or get at the book's core: Thompson's angry horror at American stupidity and crassness, and his regret at the death of the promise of the sixties. W.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]