The book had two of the most enduring images in all of modern literature.

The first, that occurs in a Cadillac convertible bombing toward Las Vegas at 90 mph, has the author seeing big black, bat-like things swooping around the car, and choosing not to mention them to his companion: "He'd see them soon enough, poor bastard."

The second is in the lounge of a hotel on the Strip, when the author suddenly realizes that everyone else in the room is a vicious, bloodthirsty reptile, and the whole floor is a puddle of shed blood.