![]() ![]() The thing that makes it less than fun is that there's some physical abuse (slapping) by the friend of Kemp of the (hopeful) girlfriend, and then she dances naked in a bar one night and is gone missing for a couple days, with no real explanation of what seems to be ominous events we can only guess at. There's a kind of dark carnival scene that would be a lite version of the Day of the Dead festivities in Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano. This has some noir influence, like The Stranger's Meursault on rum instead of wine, disaffected, full of late fifties hipster (but not quite Beat) ennui. That is ostensibly the backbone, such as it is, of this narrative: Can Kemp get the girl? They refuse to pay a bar tab and get beat up, jailed. The writing is very good, very lean, pre-acid Thompson, All Rum All The Time, where our anti-hero Kemp lusts after his abusive colleague's girlfriend. I am sure this is not a favorite in Puerto Rico, as it features a series of Ugly American journalists who loathe San Juan and loathe their jobs, and drink constantly. Thompson novel (made into a movie featuring Johnny Depp), which he began writing at the age of 22, about an American journalist working in San Juan. ![]()
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