Fear and loathing
at booksellers

updated 12:53 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Sales of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and other favorites by Hunter S. Thompson have soared since the “gonzo” journalist killed himself Sunday.

“Fear and Loathing” was No. 15 on Amazon.com as of Wednesday and publisher Vintage Books has ordered a “significant” reprinting.

“We usually sell about 60,000-70,000 copies a year of that book and our next printing will be close to that total,” Vintage spokesman Russell Perreault said.

Other Thompson books selling well include “Hell’s Angels,” “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72” and “Hey Rube.”

Thompson, 67, shot himself in the head Sunday night with a .45-caliber handgun in the kitchen of his home in the Woody Creek area north of Aspen, Colo. Friends said he had been in considerable pain over the past year after breaking a leg and undergoing hip surgery.

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