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Hell's Angels

by Hunter S. Thompson

3.93 · rating details · 9,445 ratings · 541 reviews

"California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again." Thus begins Hunter S. Thom...more

Paperback, 273 pages

Published September 29th 1996 by Ballantine Books (NY) (first published 1966)

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Apr 17, 2008

James rated it

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For one, it is cursorily interesting in how Hell’s Angels has quickly become outdated with references like, “Hell, eight dollars was a case ...moreHunter S. Thompson’s first book, Hell’s Angels is not nearly as “gonzo” or as good as his later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For one, it is cursorily interesting in how Hell’s Angels has quickly become outdated with references like, “Hell, eight dollars was a case of beer and gas back to Oakland.” Because now eight dollars will probably get you a 6-pack or enough gas to get out of the station.

But more importantly than that, Hell’s Angels, written about a 3-year period (‘64-‘66), describes a country’s utter fixation and fear about a perceived menace. And reading it in 2008, it all seems rather quaint and foolish. Motorcycle gangs? Really? The subtitle is “A Strange and Terrible Saga.” Reading it now, it just doesn’t seem very strange and terrible at all. And not much of a saga either.

And that makes me wonder about our current era’s perceived threats. Terrorists. Immigrants. Religious Fundamentalists. Health Care. Global Warming. Food Production. Disease. Radical Economists. Nefarious CEOs. Dwindling Natural Resources. Greedy and Compromised Politicians. Will they all seem quaint and insignificant in forty years?

I read books like The Shock Doctrine and Under the Banner of Heaven and Fiasco, and confidently throw them across the room in a violent rage knowing that I have found our age’s plague. How naïve and simple am I?

So what wicked monsters wait for us in the future to render our current perils dust bunnies in a dollhouse?

Hell’s Angels is important, like all of Thompson’s writing, for his uncanny ability to summarize the consequence of whatever it is he has set his special acuity upon, this case motorcycle gangs. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas it was the American Dream and the 70s hippie movement. In Hell’s Angels, Thompson does not, nor did he ever, shy from bludgeoning his subjects with the cruel truth. HST had a special ability to place his topics in context, which, if you read Pierre Bayard, is all that matters.(less)

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Sep 11, 2007

Jessica rated it

Recommends it for: Hunter Thompson fans or Hell's Angels members because they're the only ones who could appreciate it

Shelves: non-fiction, hatedit

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.
...more

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Apr 22, 2009

Petra X rated it

Shelves: popculture-anthropology, 2009

I'd just read Jay Dobyn's extremely exciting and fully-involved No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels. Dobyn was an undercover cop whose total immersion in Angels' culture led to him substituting his real life for what was really a job. Because it was so involved, it took me a while to get into Hunter Thompson's cool, cynical, totally-detached own year-long involvement with the Angels, whose beer, drugs and addiction to speed he was happy to share, bu...more

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Jan 29, 2009

Kristina King rated it

· review of another edition

Both Hunter S. Thompson and the Hell's Angels bring preconceived notions to mind:
Thompson was a crazy sonofabitch. He was a nutbag druggie who liked to blow things up.
The Hell's Angel's are crazy motherfuckers. Remember Altamont? They killed like 500 people while providing concert security for the Rolling Stones.

Both of these notions have some basis in reality. Thompson liked drugs and blowing things up. The Hell's Angels did provide security at Altamont, where one person was...more

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Nov 29, 2008

Brandon rated it

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I just read this for perhaps the fifth time. From this book up to about 1978 Hunter was at his peak and every book he wrote in that period is writing of the highest order. The guy was a major American prose stylist. Those of you who may scoff at this assertion will one day realize that I'm right. Hunter doesn't get nearly enough credit for being the very intelligent guy he was, and that intelligence is very visible in this book, written before the character of Hunter Thompson was developed enoug...more

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Jul 28, 2008

Kelly rated it

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I love Hunter S., and granted, this is his first book, and I love books written about this time, and there's great insight and observations and great writing and all, but I got halfway through this book more than once and (granted again, this was during my A.D.D. phase where I couldn't finish any book, I usually had 4-6 books going at the same time and never finished any of them) didn't reach the end. Well I finally picked it up again and read it from beginning to end, without reading a bunch o...more

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Mar 12, 2009

Andy rated it

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Shelves: american-nightmare

Still the best book about bikers ever written - and completely unromanticized, too. Their lifestyle is shown in all its greasy and grimy glory. And Hunter took a bad stomping at the end of the book by some vicious Angels. Written over forty years ago and still rawer than a lot of shit out there!

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Jan 09, 2012

Nick Sweeney rated it

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Was this the book that started gonzo journalism? I had a copy for years, and never got round to reading it, and don’t know what happened to it. As you probably know, HST was a pop culture journalist who had some contacts with the Angels of the San Francisco area, and was soon hanging out with them. It is a good look at the HA lifestyle; they strip Harleys down and ride them, they hold parties, drink a lot and take drugs, they go on big runs across the state, they cause trouble if they’re in the ...moreWas this the book that started gonzo journalism? I had a copy for years, and never got round to reading it, and don’t know what happened to it. As you probably know, HST was a pop culture journalist who had some contacts with the Angels of the San Francisco area, and was soon hanging out with them. It is a good look at the HA lifestyle; they strip Harleys down and ride them, they hold parties, drink a lot and take drugs, they go on big runs across the state, they cause trouble if they’re in the mood to do so, they never refuse a challenge. They also have to go to HA meetings, pay rent, hold down jobs, procreate, pay alimony, pay fines, go to jail. HST does look at this other side of the Angels, but mostly it seems to focus on the partying and trouble. It never seemed to me, even as a kid, that it was a glamorous existence in any way, and this was borne out for me by this book. HST verges on the critical sometimes, describes them as a strange form of grown man who has solemn gang meetings, drinks till he’s sick and takes any kind of drug just because it’s available, but I sometimes felt he wasn’t critical enough, that he was trying to remain too neutral – and that’s something you can’t really do if you want to hang onto the fact that you’re a journalist. And as it turned out, it didn’t matter with the Angels; if one of them took a dislike to you, that was it – they were all committed to that dislike, or at least those nearby were, even if they’d be friendly or tolerant of him up to that point. He got the stomping he’d been fearing, at last, and for no offence, as far as he could see – though he doesn’t seem to have considered that some of the Angels might have seen his simple presence among them as an offence. I think with a gang as uncompromising as the Angels, you can’t be with them and yet not of them. An entertaining book, nonetheless, from which I learned a lot about a culture I only perceived, as a kid, on the odd page of scurrilous muck-raking moral panic in crap newspapers.(less)

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Dec 19, 2011

Ensiform rated it

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The book that cemented Thompson’s reputation as the premier journalist of the crazed, and deservedly so. Thompson rode and hung with the Angels for a couple of years, and he presents them, at the height of their notoriety, through his own cynical, paranoiac freak prism. So we see the Angels as bearded, drooling, vicious outlaws ready to rape or stomp anything and anyone who crosses their path, but we also see them as tired old goons, knowing full well that they’re losers, and just trying to ha...more

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Dec 01, 2011

Matt Pawinski rated it

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Hell's Angels: a Strange and Terrible Saga, by Hunter S. Thompson, is an autobiographical novel about his encounters with the Hell's Angels. One thing that I thought was interesting is how he became involved with the Hell's Angels for two years to write this book. During those two years he shares many drunken and drug induced nights and more then once shared some nasty beatings. The language he uses in the novel is exciting and keeps your attention: "...like Genghis Khan on an iron horse, a...moreHell's Angels: a Strange and Terrible Saga, by Hunter S. Thompson, is an autobiographical novel about his encounters with the Hell's Angels. One thing that I thought was interesting is how he became involved with the Hell's Angels for two years to write this book. During those two years he shares many drunken and drug induced nights and more then once shared some nasty beatings. The language he uses in the novel is exciting and keeps your attention: "...like Genghis Khan on an iron horse, a monster steed with a fiery anus," he describes one of the scene at California Labor day weekend as the notorious Hell's Angels blow into town ready to rock and roll. He uses evidence from newspaper and magazine articles about the Hell's Angels activity and states whether the stories are correct or not using his own experiences with them.

The story starts off with a series of newspaper articles about the Hell's Angels and then he writes about the articles. Later in the book he joins the Angels for a two year long period to report on their activities. The Angels were aware he was writing a story about them. It is interesting to note that Thompson introduced the Angels to Ken Kesey, the leader of the Merry Pranksters and the famed Acid Tests of the 1960's, and acid. One thing important about the Hell's Angels is that once your in the gang it is in your best interest not to leave. There were stories in the novel where some Angels wanted to leave to raise a family but every so often he was targeted by other members and beat up for leaving. While during his stay with the Hells Angels at a party he was beaten half to death by other angels because he tried to save a girl from being beaten by one of the Angels for not cooperating. Hunter tried to save the girl and then he got beaten and was banished from the Hell's Angels. After Hunter Thompson finished this book he received lots of death threats and some of the reasoning was because he left and they didn't like that and the other reason was because the Angels felt insulted when they read his book about them.

I was clueless of the Hell's Angels before I read this novel but Hunter Thompson did a good job of describing who they were and why they were so famous. I liked reading this book and I highly recommend people read it because of its exciting and creative language. The story was exciting the whole way through. (less)

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May 10, 2011

Tocotin rated it

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Shelves: borrowed-books, nonfiction

I knew next to nothing about Hell's Angels, so it was an educating trip. But at the end I'm not really sure what the author really thought about them, and I understand about being objective, but I'd like to know... probably at the end, when he got beaten by the group of people he had been hanging out with for a year, and whom he had studied and amused (being amused by them in turn) - at the end his last words were "exterminate all the brutes!", and that was possibly the closest thing t...more

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Mar 23, 2011

Nick Vandermolen rated it

Shelves: self-induced-brain-change, face-down-prove, lb-tell-all, feral-brothers

I'm a fan of literature from the 60's and 70's, it was a time before computers and modern consumerism. But it was just on the cusp. With the addition of drugs, crazy freak-your-brain mind expansion drugs life on the edge was all that much better. It was during this edge time, a point when something changes from a solid to a liquid, tremendous energy was released, that energy: the freewheeling barbarians - THE HELLS ANGELS. In a way I envy their every move. Their complete freedom and disregard, t...moreI'm a fan of literature from the 60's and 70's, it was a time before computers and modern consumerism. But it was just on the cusp. With the addition of drugs, crazy freak-your-brain mind expansion drugs life on the edge was all that much better. It was during this edge time, a point when something changes from a solid to a liquid, tremendous energy was released, that energy: the freewheeling barbarians - THE HELLS ANGELS. In a way I envy their every move. Their complete freedom and disregard, the unabashed violence, and way they freaked out the norms. "Blew there minds." It was a time when the police and consequence wasn't as defined and good and evil wasn't blurred. They just didn't know. And what they did know, they didn't care to remember. (Too much pain I guess) So they rode. They were free.

I've spent a good many years "Freaking out the norms." All to often I've taken my shirt off in public, danced so hard I cleared a dance floor, or wrestled another dude in only a pair of briefs knocking over lamps and tables - just to cause a scene. I even wore a denim vest for a while like the anti-heros in Hell's Angel's. My emblem was different, but it smelled just as bad, covered in blood, chew spit, and having been put under a police car tire, only to have a burnout done it. Burnt Rubber. So I felt a certain kinship with them as I read. Yet, this freedom that so many idealize isn't without it's consequence. For, a freedom like this is made because all value of everything else is lost. They had no understanding of how to navigate the terrain of the current world. In another time, maybe. But that time...this time...myself, and the angels, were forced to the outskirts of society, like any number of broken and helpless people. The world is not long for these truly free. But they are only free because the world will not let them in. As for those free...hardly free, they are simply slaves to there own misunderstanding and ignorance.

Don't confuse wondering with freedom.
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Dec 22, 2010

illiterate Inconsiderate rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Well, Mr. Thompson I have to say that as a piece of investigative gonzo journalism, I think I finally feel a little let down by your critique of the Hell's Angels. I do appreciate the submersion you endured within the novel. However my major contensions are with how the hell's angels are never pressed or asked about obvious racist patches the adorn themselves with, such as iron crosses and swastikas. Instead you try to show how they sling around the word "nigger" and have members of ...more

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Oct 07, 2010

Donna rated it

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Shelves: nonfiction, history, biography-memoir, library, –read-in-2010

This was a quick read about a group that everyone has heard of but not many people seem to know much about. Thompson spent a year or so hanging out with the Hell's Angels, so the book includes a lot of his first-hand experiences. He also wrote about both the public perception of the Hell's Angels in the mid-60s and about how they viewed themselves.

It includes a lot of facts and stories, but they aren't overly sensationalized or romanticized. One of my favorite aspects was Thompson's ...more

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Jan 27, 2010

Jeffrey rated it

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A friend let me borrow this book almost two years ago now. It was the first piece of Thompson that I had ever read and I burned through it in a little more than a day. It was nearly impossible for me to put down and I have been hooked on Hunter S. Thompson ever since. This was HST's first major published work and it essentially put him on the map and provided him with the money to fund the various exploits that he would perform later in life.
The book resulted from a year long assignment w...more

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Jan 20, 2010

Jennifer Brearly rated it

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s Thompson aficionados are probably aware Hell's Angels is Hunter's first real foray into the sustained writing that would make us smile or be provoked to call for his head on a platter for the next forty years. Although the text clearly demonstrates that this is not a piece of `gonzo' journalism, as it later came to be known, one can see the outline of where he could be heading in this book on probably the most famous outlaw motorcycle gang in American history. The line between Thompson the rep...mores Thompson aficionados are probably aware Hell's Angels is Hunter's first real foray into the sustained writing that would make us smile or be provoked to call for his head on a platter for the next forty years. Although the text clearly demonstrates that this is not a piece of `gonzo' journalism, as it later came to be known, one can see the outline of where he could be heading in this book on probably the most famous outlaw motorcycle gang in American history. The line between Thompson the reporter and Thompson the participant is still fairly clear but one can see just enough sympathy with the subject matter of his book to see where he might be heading. His major `gonzo' work and most famous book Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas thus did not just come out of the blue.

And what of the subject matter of his book, the infamous Hell's Angels that in my youth my mother warned me against incessantly? As noted above Hunter gained a grudging sympathy for them during his yearlong experience in and around their hangouts and their nefarious various doings in Northern California. Some of the antics that they were involved in like their `robust' partying in natural settings and scaring the `squares' seem a little dated, and juvenile. Their gratuitous violence, however, seems rather too familiar.

The more sociological aspects of their marginal social existence is far more interesting and Thompson does a good job of identifying the post-World War II American times that gave rise to such self-defining outcasts. This phenomenon enters the books as one of the outcomes that occur when the Turner thesis on the effects of the end of the frontier and land's end get fleshed out in sunny California. While these men, and they were almost exclusively white Anglo-Saxon men (the women involved with them are a separate and in some ways more interesting question although in the book a marginal one), came from mainly working class backgrounds the details provided by Thompson portrays a classic lumpenproletarian milieu. Thus, politics, protest or allegiance to other organizations meant nothing to them. Forget all that intellectual gibberish, it was about the bikes, man. Dr. Freud can read what he wants into that. Dr. Thompson gives it to us straight.(less)

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Oct 06, 2009

Tpeter rated it

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Not a complete page-turner, and not nearly as brilliant as 'fear and loathing', this is none the less well worth reading, full of captivating hipster-language, and weird insights into the subculture of the Hells Angels.
Hunter S. Thompson is a brilliant investigative journalist both able to give a high-flying sociological analysis of the Angels, and at the same time (quite unlike most sociologists) able to blend in with them - ride bikes, drink and consume drugs with the best... "show...more

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Aug 06, 2009

christa rated it

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Is there anything more delicious than when the infamous writes about the infamous. I'm hardly one of those whacked-out Hunter S. Thompson-ophiles, but "Hell's Angels," his nonfiction-ish account of spending the mid-1960s with the motorcycle club as it revved its way into mainstream media is a total kick.

"Weird as it seems, as this gang of costumed hoodlums converged on Monterey that morning they were on the verge of 'making it big,' as the showbiz people say, and they...moreIs there anything more delicious than when the infamous writes about the infamous. I'm hardly one of those whacked-out Hunter S. Thompson-ophiles, but "Hell's Angels," his nonfiction-ish account of spending the mid-1960s with the motorcycle club as it revved its way into mainstream media is a total kick.

"Weird as it seems, as this gang of costumed hoodlums converged on Monterey that morning they were on the verge of 'making it big,' as the showbiz people say, and they would owe most of their success to a curious rape mania that rides on the shoulder of American journalism like some jeering, masturbating raven. Nothing grabs an editor's eye like a good rape."

Thompson follows their runs, when the group converges on a city, which preemptively terrorizes the locals, who envision all the raping and pillaging they are about to have foisted upon them. It's not a basis-less fear: the Angel's are known for brawls and gang bangs -- although they tend to reason that the women they encounter know what they are in for. He writes about their commitment to uncleanliness, the bikers' uniform and the rumors of inner-circle homosexuality. The drinking and the drugs, and their day jobs -- or lack thereof -- and seemingly pedestrian pursuits. As they grow in popularity, the Hell's Angels become publicity seekers who eventually want to charge money to share their stories.

Associating with Hell's Angels does little for Hunter Thompson's reputation with his neighbors, and he is evicted when there are complaints about these visiting motorcyclists and their wild ways. In my favorite moment of the book, Thompson turns to the reader to confess that the really bad stuff wasn't even done by Hells Angels. Their visits, he says, were just loud music, a few bikes on the sidewalk, and an occasional shot out back window.

"Most of the bad action came on nights when there was no Angels around: One of my most respectible visitors, an advertising executive from New York, became hungry after a long night of drink and stole a ham from the refrigerator of a nearby apartment; another guest set my mattress afire with a flare and we had to throw it out the back window; another ran wild in the street with a high-powered Falcon air horn normally carried on boats for use as a distress signal."

Not to mention the time a visiting poet chucked a garbage can under the wheels of a passing bus.

In the last third of the book, Thompson gives the Angels a bit of access to his life. This is where the Angels start hanging out on Ken Kesey's land and taking LSD, which strangely mellows them out. There is Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg and nudity and police cars.

(Obviously I'm going to have to read "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" now, since I enjoyed this so much.)

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Jul 02, 2009

Keeno rated it

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Shelves: non-fiction

At the time of publication the Hells Angels were a home grown menace that was both real and imagined (and they owe not a little of that infamy to the media as HST aptly points out). They have since evolved from their simple nomad rabble rouser days to being mischievous enough to earn the ire of the F.B.I. along with the rest of the “Big Four” outlaw gangs. In the “Quebec Biker War” between the Angels and the “Rock Machine”, over 150 people were killed which is on par with the biggest Cosa Nostra...moreAt the time of publication the Hells Angels were a home grown menace that was both real and imagined (and they owe not a little of that infamy to the media as HST aptly points out). They have since evolved from their simple nomad rabble rouser days to being mischievous enough to earn the ire of the F.B.I. along with the rest of the “Big Four” outlaw gangs. In the “Quebec Biker War” between the Angels and the “Rock Machine”, over 150 people were killed which is on par with the biggest Cosa Nostra conflicts in the U.S.A. So while average citizens don’t generally walk in fear of the Hells Angels it is a stretch to consider biker gangs to be an insignificant thing of the past.

For my part I thought that it was very interesting and surprisingly fair considering that the author was in effect part of the Angels camp by association. Drawing from first hand experience from “runs” that he participated in and primary source interviews, HST pulls no punches in calling it as he sees it. Often he points out the illogical doctrines of gang mentality and inherent irony at their loss individuality in the attempt to distance themselves from society at large and their law abiding motorcycle counterparts without the evangelical fire of an outsider looking in.

It is precisely because the book is not “nearly as Gonzo” (as stated by another reviewer) as some of his seminal works that Thompson makes a credible account. He doesn’t overly vilify the Angels nor does he belittle their loyalty to one another and the jocular perspective on what they consider to be a misfit lifestyle. His commentary carries perspective because he is accomplice by mild participation but he never quite loses the stigma of “the establishment” by the Angels own admission. This is punctuated at the close by the stomping he takes from the hands and boots of some of the Angels. Despite that he chooses not to close with malice but with words of affection for some of the Angels he grew to know as people beyond the colors.

Thompson’s account was researched, thorough and insightful. He never offers a conclusion or even a reason why—only a what. For that he offers the reader a ride with the perhaps the most infamous of the world’s outlaw motorcycle gangs.

“There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others-the living-are those who pushed their control as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came to choose between Now and Later. But the edge is still out there. Or maybe it’s in. The association of motorcycles with LSD is no accident of publicity. They are both a means to an end, to the place of definitions.”

-Hunter S. Thompson: Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga of The Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs-
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Jun 27, 2009

Michael rated it

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My girlfriend had just finished this book, and I had run out of Terry Pratchett (for the moment), so I picked it up. It's good.c Hunter S. Thompson goes well out of his way to rock out with a pack of 60s and 70 Hell's Angels, way out there in Cali. He does a great job of confronting and dispelling a great deal of the rumors of these modern pirates, but at times I think he simply painted them how he wanted to see them.
Thompson does his best to bring out the basic humanity of his subjects, wh...more

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Apr 09, 2009

Libby rated it

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Shelves: social-commentary

This was a really interesting book about the early history of the Hells Angels MC. I was more interested in Hunter S Thompsons writing style though, I wanted to see what his early stuff was like. It was fairly entertaining, pretty balanced and keenly observant. He did not speak a great deal about his personal involvement though, I would have loved to have heard more details about the times he spent with the club...he did not delve into many personal opinions and appeared to skip over his relatio...more

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Apr 06, 2009

Oren rated it

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My new SF Public Library card was largely put to use last year boning-up on local history of the late 1960s. I'm a big fan of music from that time, but claim no real knowledge of that time. I'm interested since my parents grew up through that decade which came just before my life.

Hunter S. Thompson's voice just connects with my thoughts! My sister got me "The Great Shark Hunt" which I just could not read when I first tried. It was like reading a foreign language, which ma...moreMy new SF Public Library card was largely put to use last year boning-up on local history of the late 1960s. I'm a big fan of music from that time, but claim no real knowledge of that time. I'm interested since my parents grew up through that decade which came just before my life.

Hunter S. Thompson's voice just connects with my thoughts! My sister got me "The Great Shark Hunt" which I just could not read when I first tried. It was like reading a foreign language, which maybe those who know about my teetotaling and drug abstinence would suggest was exactly what I was attempting. Persistence and some context paid-off. Seeing 'Fear and Loathing' the movie and doing some more reading about Doctor Thompson resulted in a synchronization of my reading and his writing. I highly recommend the film documentary of his life from last year.

Hell's Angels references abound, so the prospect of finally reading the book which probably set the motorcycle group firmly in the era's history excited me. The SF Chapter's clubhouse also sits not far from my home and I'd recently taken a walking tour which included the Hell's Angels clubhouse. The intimidation and blood circulation felt when three of these guys roar off on their bikes right in front of their own clubhouse is unique and memorable. The experience was topped off by the recent murder of the local club leader by a rival gang!

The historical background on motorcycle groups fascinates me. Thompson hypothesizes as much as recites other accounts, that World War II vets came back from the war and got bored with civilian life pretty quickly. Storming around on fast, powerful American motorcycles, boozing, and cracking heads was more fitting returned war heros than buttoning up a starched shirt and walking past a green, manicured lawn at the same time everyday toting a briefcase to an office full of similarly disguised, socially conforming men.

So one of the original 1950s gangs, the Booze Fighers, supposedly merged and grew into what is now the Hell's Angels. Started in Southern California, the group might have developed out of inspirations formed from events at the Hollister(central/Northern California) motorcycle hill climb depicted in the 1953 Laslo Benedek film "The Wild One" starring Marlon Brando.

Thompson's report of Hells Angels members and their activities again brings into strong question the difference between observation and written reports. Several famous accounts of Hells Angels crimes depict them as debased animals, raping and pillaging through small towns on top of fire-driven bikes.
I found particularly fun reading the way Thompson balances between the acceptance and trust he built with members and his own knowledge that he was, in some perspective, a complete outsider. Even superficial, if that isn't all that's at play, cues like Thompson's choice of a very fast English bike instead of a Harley is humorous to me, especially against the back-drop of my own Triumph and Harley-riding uncles and grandfather.(less)

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Dec 28, 2011

Elianne rated it

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I'm not going to claim I'm a Hunter S. Thompson fan by any means. Truth be told, I had a couple of minutes to find a relatively cheap book (thank you, Penguin Classics) to amuse myself with whilst having an unexpected hospital stay; and having a curious interest in bikies, and bikie culture 'Hell's Angels' seemed a suitable choice. This may well strike the contemporary American fiction lovers and gonzo connoisseurs as an unworthy approach to the old Hunter S, but indeed in 'Hell's Angels' I saw ...more

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Aug 06, 2010

Tim Miller rated it

This was Thompson's first published book. From the first to last page, you can see his Gonzo style emerging. Like Jack Kerouac's works, Thompson's writing just sweeps you up and carries you along on a journey that enables you to understand just how complex and poetic life can be. His prose is a cliff jump into a deep river of experience that you just want to read over and over again.

Thompson takes on a number of perspectives in 'Hell's Angels'--from partying with the motorcycle ga...more

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Oct 27, 2011

Joe rated it

Hell's Angels, is the 1966 debut of Hunter S. Thompson, and this brand new thing called "Gonzo" journalism. I found it very interesting, reading this after all these years, to almost feel like I was there as Thompson, found the first signs of his voice. This is still top-of-the-line reporting in the conventional sense. But it was also not exactly full-emersion, in the gonzo sense, as we know it today. The difference being, that the reporting wasn’t as much about Hunter Thompson, and...more Hell's Angels, is the 1966 debut of Hunter S. Thompson, and this brand new thing called "Gonzo" journalism. I found it very interesting, reading this after all these years, to almost feel like I was there as Thompson, found the first signs of his voice. This is still top-of-the-line reporting in the conventional sense. But it was also not exactly full-emersion, in the gonzo sense, as we know it today. The difference being, that the reporting wasn’t as much about Hunter Thompson, and the things HE did as a confidant of California’s notorious outlaw biker gang. It was about the things he saw, and experienced over the course of about a year in their company. He talks of his experiences, in bars, on club runs, dropping acid with Ken Kessey and his Band of Merry Pranksters, and ultimately a sampling of the ugly side of the Angels’ violent lifestyle. His conclusions, brilliantly collected in the books final chapter, almost seem to disappoint him, but he lays them out there anyway. Thompsons’ time with outlaws left him with insights, and understandings of myriad versions of the culture of the day, as it not so much blossomed, but exploded in every direction at once.
He also mentions almost in passing, his wife and young son. So, we’re left with the impression that Thompson had not gone completely “all-in”, to pursue the deep, dark truth. Here, is where you get the sense of what was to become Thompson’s literary invention. This really is, reporting. His musings on the real motivations behind the Angel’s anti-social stance, his comparisons between the reality on the ground, and what was reported by the so-called “square” press, all while aware that his access to the inside was tenuous, at best. A negative note. There did seem to be quite a bit of repetition. But, I guess when you follow the same guys for a year, that do pretty much the same thing, all year, that can happen. Sometimes it lends an air of authenticity to the tedium Thompson describes. And, sometimes it's just tedious.
Later work is going to find Thompson exploring politics, and drugs, and well,, everything else. Even as he gives himself up for his craft, his almost prescient reporting is still at the fore of his chosen victim of the day. The difference with Hell’s Angels, is that we still get to feel like we’re peeking into another world, and not staring out from inside.(less)

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Feb 03, 2011

Christopher Rex rated it

· review of another edition

Interesting read. HST was a quality writer throughout his career and it is interesting to note the stylistic changes that evolved throughout his life and this book demonstrates his early talents. I never read "Hell's Angels" despite going through a wide swath of HSTs work over the past 20 years. I guess I never really found the topic one that would interest me. The book is an interesting case-study of investigative journalism in HSTs unique style. Though I found him a bit too symp...more

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Jan 02, 2009

Annie rated it

· review of another edition

Loved this book - Thompson follows the group for a few years and writes about what this group of guys is like. By the end of the book (even though he wrote about some pretty heinous things that they did to people, property, etc.), I felt myself really liking the men who were in Hell's Angels. Not like them like I want to get a beer with them, but I think you know what I mean. I'd like to read more of Thompson's work.

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Jan 26, 2011

Jake rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sociology, history

Who among us, in some secret moments, doesn't want to see society burnt to the ground? What separates us from the Hell's Angels, according to Hunter S. Thompson, is that most of the time we've got other options- where the average outlaw biker has none:

Two dozen gleaming, stripped-down Harleys filled the parking lot of the bar called the El Adobe. The angels were shouting, laughing and drinking beer- paying no attention to two teenaged boys who stood on the fringe of the crowd, looking scared.

...moreWho among us, in some secret moments, doesn't want to see society burnt to the ground? What separates us from the Hell's Angels, according to Hunter S. Thompson, is that most of the time we've got other options- where the average outlaw biker has none:

Two dozen gleaming, stripped-down Harleys filled the parking lot of the bar called the El Adobe. The angels were shouting, laughing and drinking beer- paying no attention to two teenaged boys who stood on the fringe of the crowd, looking scared. Finally one of the boys spoke to a lean, bearded outlaw named Gut: "we like your bikes, man. They're really sharp." Gut glanced at him, then at the bikes. "I'm glad you like them," he said. "They're all we have."

Which is not to say that "Hell's Angels" is an entirely sympathetic portrait. At times, it's the opposite- Thompson repeatedly describes these guys as gang-raping, boozed up bores, dead-end head-cases who, without their bikes, are just about the biggest losers around. But that doesn't mean they didn't serve as an important cultural signifier in the 1960s. At that time, in the middle of the Civil Rights movement and the beginning of Vietnam, they were a convenient symbol for the chaos that was about to be unleashed: "the first wave of a future that nothing in our history has prepared us to cope with."

And Thompson wasn't the only person to pick up on this- what surprised me most was his unlikely account of the Hell's Angels becoming national media stars- giving press conferences, being asked for comment on the big issues of the day. That's not something that I'd ever considered: that even a phenomenon as supposedly real and horrifying as The Hell's Angels could be a somewhat fabricated creation of the media.

"Hell's Angels" came out in 1966, three years before the gang reached the nadir of their fame with the Altamont stabbing. So while this book has some pretty crazy scenes, including various gang-stompings, gang-rapes, and gang-parties at Ken Kesey's house, it has a quaint, almost sweet air about it once you consider some of the shit that went down later on. In the same way, Thompson's style isn't nearly as crazy as it would become in Fear and Loathing. He's often drunk here, and tossing back pills, but his writing is more New Journalism than Gonzo Journalism (though I doubt Joan Didion ever totaled a motorcycle at 100mph or got her ass kicked by a motorcycle gang.)

NB. The actual biker club doesn't use the apostrophe in their name- from their FAQ online: "Should the Hells in Hells Angels have an apostrophe, and be Hell's Angels? That would be true if there was only one Hell, but life & history has taught us that there are many versions and forms of Hell."(less)

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Jan 03, 2012

Brian S rated it

· review of another edition

The media latched onto the threat posed by the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang “invading” and “taking over” small towns on their “runs,” and incited public fear and police reaction way out of proportion to the actual threat. This is the thesis that Thompson hammers away at over and over again, and then revisits a few more times just in case it was missed.

It may well be true that the threat was overstated, but the vandalism, theft, and violence that Thompson acknowledges is a regular...more

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Jul 25, 2011

Colin N. rated it

· review of another edition

This is Thompson's expose of the Hell's Angels, written after he spent a year with them in the mid-1960s. It is a pretty good piece of reporting and is significant for being one of the first factually accurate description of the Hell's Angels and the other motorcycle clubs that sprouted up in the years after WWII. (though of course filtered through Thompson's perceptions). The book really sets out to debunk the many myths that existed at the time about the group and excoriate the mainstream m...moreThis is Thompson's expose of the Hell's Angels, written after he spent a year with them in the mid-1960s. It is a pretty good piece of reporting and is significant for being one of the first factually accurate description of the Hell's Angels and the other motorcycle clubs that sprouted up in the years after WWII. (though of course filtered through Thompson's perceptions). The book really sets out to debunk the many myths that existed at the time about the group and excoriate the mainstream media for whipping the public into a frenzy about the group, perpetuating the misconceptions and misunderstandings about them, and helping to create the group that it so harshly condemned.

It really is an indictment of bad news reporting more then anything else. Thompson quotes at length from various new articles and reveals reporters' warped understanding of the group. It is also an interesting study in how the media can create the subject on which it reports. The publicity that resulted from reports of the Angels' atrocities in the 60s resulted in a huge increase in their recruiting and many Angels adopted the attitudes ascribed to them by the media. So without all the sensational reporting on the Hell's Angels the Hell's Angels as they became would likely never have existed.

Another fascinating, if minor, part of the book is when Thompson injects himslef into the story (something that would become a much greater part of his later work). It is interesting to note that it is Thompson that introduced the Angels to Kesey and LSD in the 60s and introduced them to Beatnik figures such as Ginsberg and Cassidy. Ginsberg's connection to the Angels may have prevented some violent clashes from occurring between the Angels and Vietnam protesters. Therefore Thompson may have unintentially had quite an impact on those two groups at that moment in time.

But much of the book does not stand the test of time. Motorcycle gang culture is pervasive in modern culture and much better understood then it was at the time this book was written. Therefore many of Thompson's revelations are not all that new and interesting. I was also hoping for more madcap stories of Thompson engaging in violent brawls and crazy antics with the Angels, but while there is some of that, it is not the bulk of the work. In large part the book is a more straightforward description of the group and an attack on the media. Parts of the book drag and are a bit tedious as he quotes statistics and articles.

So overall, moments of the book are interesting, and there are a few well-written passages and anecdotes, but it is not as relevant as it once was.(less)

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About Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, famous for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become the central figures of their stories. He is also known for his promotion and use of psychedelics and other mind-altering substanc...more

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Books by Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream

Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72

The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time

Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

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