Famous Literary Drunks & Addicts

Thompson grew a bit shrill and incoherent in his later years, but no one who came of age reading his work -- and especially Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- could honestly have expected anything different. What can one say, really, other than this: HST was an American original; at one time he was one of the sharpest critics and funniest writers any of us are likely to encounter; and we will never see the likes of him again. "I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs, or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me."