Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is perhaps the central theme that unites and shapes each of these three short stories. In "Mescalito," Thompson details his first experience of using mescaline, a psychoactive drug. Beyond mescaline, Thompson had engaged in abuse of multiple drugs, including alcohol, Dexedrine, and marijuana. Thompson's drug abuse leads to an intense episode of paranoia, physical changes, heightened sensations, and other consequences.

Substance abuse is more subtly introduced in "Death of a Poet" with the exception of drinking copious amounts of Wild Turkey - but the short story's surreal elements and imagery, not to mention the bizarre behavior of both the narrator and the character F. X. Leach, lend credibility to the notion that the story is the product of a drug trip, or that in the least there are drugs involved that have warped the reality of the story, so to speak.

In "Screwjack," Thompson uses...