Al,
I read it in the '70's, but to paraphrase the old joke, if you read a book about drugs in the '70's and you can remember it, then you really didn't read it. (or something like that) No, I seem to remember it being pretty outrageous, and based on the general impression I've gotten of you from your posts and description, I think you might like it. As I remember it, the image you get of Vegas is pretty warped through Dr. Thompson's drug-addled paranoid tales of events that seemed pretty ficticious. I think Vegas serves more as a backdrop than the focus of the story. But, if you go into it ready for a good time and suspend your need to question the reality as Thompson relates it, you will really enjoy it. Heck, you've got me thinking maybe I want to reread it now.