BOOK

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hunter S Thompson
Random House, 1998
(originally published in 1973)

Hunter S Thompson is dead and the world is a lesser place for it. The 'gonzo' journalist was the quintessential example of the Heisenberg principle, which states that the presence of the observer alters the nature of an event. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the book that established his reputation, Mr Thompson and his lawyer sidekick are the story. The duo is in Sin City to cover a motorcycle race sometime on Sunday. They arrive at their hotel Friday night in a Cadillac whose vast stash of drugs includes ether, which can be placed under the accelerator by way of spurring the driver on to greater excesses behind the wheel as the speed increases. The fact that a convention of the nation's chiefs of police is underway at the same venue proves that real life is something you can't make up.

After noodling around Vegas in various states of high — at one point they have a terrified service station attendant inflate the Caddie's tires to 100 lbs of pressure — the race itself is a wipe out. Paranoia and laughs on every page.

Also worth a revisit is Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. In it he wrote that Richard Nixon "speaks for the werewolf in us," and that "there is no way to grasp what a shallow, contemptible and hopelessly dishonest old hack Hubert Humphrey is until you've followed him around for a while."

— David Elkins

You might also like: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

POP

Clerks
Dir: Kevin Smith
Miramax, 1994
DVD release, 2004

Clerks is as much a part of generation X as slackers, grunge and Douglas Coupland. This cult classic defined much of what teens and young adults were feeling during the early 90s when Doc Martens and plaid shirts were hip.

Financed largely by credit cards and money borrowed from family and friends, this film shows us what it's like to be young and stuck in a minimum wage job, knowing that your life's going nowhere. It follows the 'adventures' of two store clerks, Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall Graves (Jeff Anderson). Dante is called into the convenience store on his day off. He's reluctant to head into work, but Dante is responsible unlike Randall, who works in the video store next door and has no problem coming in two hours late, swearing in front of clients or selling cigarettes to minors. "I'm not supposed to be here today," laments Dante throughout the film. But that's not the worst of his problems. He also discovers that his current girlfriend has had oral sex with 36 other guys — a tragedy in guy terms. And his ex-girlfriend/true love is engaged to an Asian designer.

Clerks is a dialogue heavy, pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-slacker film. It was put together on a shoestring budget ($27,000 US) and filmed in the same convenience store that director Kevin Smith was working in at the time. Clerks was the first movie made by Mr Smith and was followed by a series of films featuring the same characters including Mallrats and Chasing Amy.

— Abigail Sevigny

You might also like: Slackers and Reality Bites.

FILM

Nevermind
Nirvana
DGC, 1991

If Clerks was one of the seminal films of the early 90s then Nirvana's Nevermind was the album. The second release by the Seattle-based indie rockers was unique. It broke the mold during a time when boy bands (think New Kids on the Block) and hair-metal (Poison and Def Leppard anyone?) ruled the charts. Nirvana's sound was raw, angry and real. It put into music what every teen felt growing up in the shadows of the baby-boomers. "Smells like teen spirit" was the anthem of a generation. The opening riff still incites rebellion and excitement in anyone who listened to them back in 91. The tune can take you back to sweaty mosh-pits and 'head-banging' moments of yore.

But the hype surrounding Nevermind wasn't only about rock music, being young and rebellious. It was about Nirvana's signature angst-ridden lyrics and their lead singer Kurt Cobain — the charismatic anti-hero of grunge and the unlikely star. He is to gen-X what Jimmy Hendrix or Janis Joplin were to the boomers before them. It was through his lyrics and haunting voice that Mr Cobain summed up the despair and frustration of his peers. The talent of bassist Chris Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl brought it all together with a melodic, pop-ish punk sound. Tunes like "Come As You Are" and "In Bloom" never veer far from punk rock but they're uniquely Nirvana and exemplify both the brooding sound and cynical sarcasm of the west coast trio.

— Abigail Sevigny

You might also like: Dookie by Green Day

Calling all doctors! Do you have a classic film, CD or book that you love? Would you be interested in sharing it with your colleagues? If so, why not submit your review to the National Review of Medicine. Send your article to [email protected] and we'll send you a gift if we publish it.