Hell's Angels
by Hunter S. Thompson
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Read in April, 2008
Hunter S. Thompson’s first book, Hell’s Angels is not nearly as “gonzo” or as good as his later writings and not nearly as fresh and fascinating as, say, Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Hell’s Angels is a far more straightforward piece of journalism than HST’s later work but it is still an interesting read some 45 years on (certainly no small feat).
For one, it is cursorily interesting in how Hell’s Angels has quickly become outdated with references like, “Hell, eight dollars was...more
For one, it is cursorily interesting in how Hell’s Angels has quickly become outdated with references like, “Hell, eight dollars was...more
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I want to read Thompson, but I don't want to read Fear And Loathing. I know that probably seems like an awful thing to say, especially considering that I love New Journalism and all, but I submit to you the following pieces of evidence: 1) I've continually tried to watch the movie but keep falling asleep, and 2) I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate books about drugs. See Naked Lunch, in particular. I do not get along with books about drugs. It's not that I'm...more
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Read in December, 2007
The only other Thompson book I have read is "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," but I am fairly familiar with 'gonzo journalism.' I wanted to read this book because I'm a big fan of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and the Angels are mentioned quite a bit at La Honda. I also have a ridiculous fascination with the West Coast during the 1960's, and am completely positive I was born at the wrong place and definitely the wrong time.
That said, I really liked the book. If you like Thompson'...more
That said, I really liked the book. If you like Thompson'...more
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Read in November, 2007
Hunter S. Thomson's study of the infamous Hell's Angels. His observations are direct and concise, and his deft writing a mastery of form.
On the merits this and his work from the same period, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, one begins to wonder about his slow, prolific decline. Drugs can have a curious effect: they tend to produce a double, much in the same way digital CGI effects are a double of the lens/film/light mechanism that was the earlier foundation of movies. Not many of us ca...more
On the merits this and his work from the same period, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, one begins to wonder about his slow, prolific decline. Drugs can have a curious effect: they tend to produce a double, much in the same way digital CGI effects are a double of the lens/film/light mechanism that was the earlier foundation of movies. Not many of us ca...more
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Hell's Angels was written before the age of Gonzo. Or more precisely at the forefront of Gonzo, a forerunner but lite version of what was to come. The book is split into three main sections, the first highlighting the outlaw gang and the way the media covered them at the time the book was written. The second part and perhaps the reason to read this book details a weekend with the Angels, the police forced to watch over them, and the people the who undesirably have to share a resort hideaway with...more
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Read in January, 1999
Hunter made one of the most anthropologically incisive observations of the American condition EVER in this book: The migration of Europeans to the "new world" was the movement of the disenfranchised. Generation after generation, people who were persecuted or otherwise unattached to the land beneath their feet found convenient exit going West. The trip itself, across the ocean to begin, was no picnic, but certainly better than the certain death of staying put. At each stop along the way...more
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Read in May, 2008
When I started reading this book several Hunter Thompson fans told me it wasn't a "real Hunter S. Thompson book", and that it was "just" straight reporting, implying that I shouldn't waste my time. And it was more earnest than some of his other stuff, but still contained plenty of paragraphs like this one:
"For reason that were never made clear, I blew out my back windows with five blasts of a 12-gauge shotgun, followed moments later by six rounds from a .44 Magnum. ...more
"For reason that were never made clear, I blew out my back windows with five blasts of a 12-gauge shotgun, followed moments later by six rounds from a .44 Magnum. ...more
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Read in June, 2004
recommends it for:
fans of HST, hippies, freaks, people interested in the 60s counter culture
I read this book because I was a fan of Hunter S Thompson from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I borrowed the book from a friend, and it confirmed my appreciation of him as an author.
This book is an excellent piece of Gonzo Journalism (it did, afterall, start the genre.) The exploits of the Hell's Angels are recounted in vivid details, and HST contributes surprisingly insightful commentary.
The bad boy of journalism investigates the bad boys of society and portrays them with fairly well...more
This book is an excellent piece of Gonzo Journalism (it did, afterall, start the genre.) The exploits of the Hell's Angels are recounted in vivid details, and HST contributes surprisingly insightful commentary.
The bad boy of journalism investigates the bad boys of society and portrays them with fairly well...more
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Read in May, 2003
recommends it for:
anyone who's heard of it
I've read virtually everything by Thompson and when I was younger he was definitely my favorite. Probably for all of the usual reasons--his being a true and modern outlaw, possibly the last to invest himself in it so seriously. But that was years ago and I'd still argue he was/is a valuable person to read, and this book is a major reason why. Thompson was quite obsessed with The Death of the American Dream, and if you spend any time observing and researching the presidencies and long-term effect...more
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Read in January, 1998
Few journalists would have the balls to live amongst the Hell's Angels in their heyday with the intention of writing what amounts to a tell-all book, and letting them know that's the intent. But this is Hunter Thompson we're talking about here, that ballsiest of all journalists and hero of the excessive, the freaked out, and the screwed up. This really was an excellent journalistic exploration of this rowdy and often violent (Thompson himself took a rather savage beating which, wisely, marked ...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
not recommended
I saw Hunter Thompson years ago on some type of interview and had a gut level instinctual dislike for the man. I've wanted to read this book(had an old copy from 1980's)for years. Well I did and my instincts were confirmed. I learned from this book that my instincts were correct.
Book seemed censured and watered down. I found many of his insights off the mark, uninteresting, and or simplistically stupid.
Thompson discusses of "rape" which he has an annoying habit of putting ...more
Book seemed censured and watered down. I found many of his insights off the mark, uninteresting, and or simplistically stupid.
Thompson discusses of "rape" which he has an annoying habit of putting ...more
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The Hell's Angels and the outlaw biker gang phenomenon have always made for interesting discussion. One needs only to recall some of those B movies made in the 1960's about the Hells Angels and how many "ordinary" folks fantasized about living the life of a biker gang memeber. This book was written as sort of an expose'into the lives of "typical" biker gang members. It follows the history of the group from the end of World War II up to about 1966. I found it an enjoyable, eas...more
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Read in April, 2008
Hunter S. Thompson being, like, the zillionth world-renowned writer whose works I've never picked up, I figured this would be a good place to start, especially since so much of the action takes place in the Bay Area. (Hey, I totally live there!) Also, I was flush with some cash for having done jury duty, so buying a book about the most notorious biker gang ever popularized by the media seemed like a good way to go. Pretty entertaining and interesting stuff, though overall it felt a lot more obse...more
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Read in June, 2003
Well shit, what can I say. It was my first Thompson read and it was a damn fine start. This was also the first book I wasn't reading for homework. My first choice for a casual read. I believe that if Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had came my way first then I'd just be a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Fan. Since Hell's Angels made it's way to my hands first I became a Thompson fan. Hells' Angels was so brutal and outrageous. It was like the diary of a barbarian full of stories from the fr...more
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Read in May, 2008
This was going to be a solid 3-star rating - Aside from about 100 pages in the middle documenting the Angels' Fourth of July run to Bass Lake in 1965, the writing jumps around a whole lot between the Angels' behavior and the mis-matched coverage by the press. For about 80 pages at the beginning, I was wondering if things were ever going to come together at all, or if I was just reading a very long list of anecdotes about the Hells Angels.
Luckily, the last 30 pages or so bring the entire boo...more
Luckily, the last 30 pages or so bring the entire boo...more
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Beyond Hunter's cool narrative is the facinating notion that he was the first to immerse himself into a subculture and validate it by way of all this crazy gonzo journalism. Sweet. So does this reporting demystify or exacerbate the menace? That's what I was wondering by the end of the book. I mean, I guess I think he digs them, sympathizes with them, and rides their coat tails a bit, but also calls them on a few things. Whateves. He's sweet and I wish I could infiltrate motorcycle gangs. M...more
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If you live in the Bay Area, you have to read this book. It's historical. It's just as historical as Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests and the US Constitution.
Really, though, want to know where bikers came from? Want to know why people are afraid of them while simultaneously realizing why HST was completely insane? Running for mayor of Aspen on the platform that all drugs should be legalized, and the streets should be paved over in grass is just the beginning. HST writes about his adventur...more
Really, though, want to know where bikers came from? Want to know why people are afraid of them while simultaneously realizing why HST was completely insane? Running for mayor of Aspen on the platform that all drugs should be legalized, and the streets should be paved over in grass is just the beginning. HST writes about his adventur...more
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Read in January, 2008
Interesting to read a pre-gonzo Hunter Thompson. Hells Angels is still "New Journalism", but unlike later works, the text is well edited and well crafted. The book chronicles the California Hells Angels in 1966-1967, a period in which they were plucked from obscurity and became a media sensation after several high profile run-ins with the law. He shows how this media attention first revitalized their membership, and then threatened to destroy them. Thompson traces their history and roo...more
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Read in June, 2006
I could go on for days about Hunter S., but I will simply say that this is a really important book in the scope of contemporary American literature. Even if you don't consider yourself a "fan" of the good Doctor, I would recommend indulging this one. It is a comprehensive, startling and deeply affecting sociological study that goes straight to the basic elements of human nature.
A quote, included by Thompson, from Saul Alinsky(Activist and community organizer in Chicago):
The fact that people are poor or discriminated against doesn't necessarily endow them with any special qualities of justice, nobility, charity or compassion....more
A quote, included by Thompson, from Saul Alinsky(Activist and community organizer in Chicago):
The fact that people are poor or discriminated against doesn't necessarily endow them with any special qualities of justice, nobility, charity or compassion....more
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Read in January, 2003
recommends it for:
Hunter Thompson fans or Hell's Angels members because they're the only ones who could appreciate it
Hunter Thompson was this crazy guy who threw himself into his research (literally). He spawned a movement called Gonzo journalism. We read this book in college and learned all about Gonzo. So in 1965 he gets the brilliant idea of joining up with the Hell's Angels. This is back when they were extremely violent. This book is all about his experience riding along with the them. I didn't particularly care for his writing style or the content, so needless to say I am not a fan of this book.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.95 (2175 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.93 (1363 ratings) number of reviews: 166popular shelves
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