Not really. You just have to read the book 6 times within a two-week time frame, then rent the movie. Reading the book first makes you appreciate the movie more, but it's really one of those things that doesn't work nearly as well on the big screen. Yeah, that's what people say. I haven't read the book so I didn't fully appreciate it. I just saw it in an altered state of mind. "Suddenly, there was a terrible roar all around us, and the sky was full with what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, and a voice was screaming: Holy Jesus. What are these goddamn animals?" "We can't stop here, this is bat country! Have you guys seen 'where the buffalo roam"? It's another movie about Hunter S. Thompson - only this time he's played by bill murry!