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 gangs and LSD freaks, to condemning them. He doesn't spare the establishment either. He gives no quarter to his fellow reporters either, Thompson writes with a power to lay bare the absurdity and hypocrisy of the warped American dream. His books will always inspire me to write "with violence" as one of my college Fiction classmates described my prose.

Kerouac, too, is one of my favorites. You can see the connection between Thompson and Kerouac through this text. Allen Ginsberg, a.k.a. Carlo Marx in Kerouac's 'On the Road' partied with Thompson. In addition, Ginsberg edited 'Hell's Angels' for the Gonzo journalist. Neal Cassidy, who was Kerouac's novel hero, also makes an appearance in 'Hell's Angels.'

Cassidy and Ginsberg link Thompson to Kerouac. However, Thompson never admitted that association during his life. He WAS different from Kerouac in many ways. These two writers had their own unique brands of madness and inspiration. If you read both author's books, I think you'll find that their pieces have, at least, a sort of father/son relationship. I can't