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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
It's a mighty swell article stretched out over an entire book. I reckon at the time it was an explosive expose of a biker gang at peak power. Now it's an interesting little time capsule for a period of American culture (and media's decline to sensationalism), and also a marker for Thompson finding his way as a writer. And biting off way more than he could chew. On one hand, I admire the chutzpah it takes to get drunk and high off bennies with an outlaw gang. On the other, sticking around after witnessing gang rapes and long enough to almost get your own head caved in is batshit lunacy. Thompson surviving to go on to be a famous American writer is the unspoken little miracle of this book.
Thompson's account of his coverage, gonzo-style, of the Hell's Angels biker gang during the 1960's.
Thompson's first official book. Very informative and entertaining but not the Hunter we know and love. You can see in this book where Hunter's gonzo voice was really starting to take off. I can't believe that he actually lived to tell the tale!
HELL'S ANGELS hovered between a 3.5 and a 4 for most of my time reading it. Thompson's writing is as madcap as ever and, as a sixties pop culture junkie, I enjoyed the subject matter, but I also felt like I was reading the same five or six Wikipedia bulletpoints about the Hell's Angels over and over and over again, only in a slightly different context with each new venue change. The penultimate chapter, however, pulls it all together in a spectacularly prescient manner. Thompson himself was likely unaware of the terrifying accuracy of the portent he described when summing up what the phenomenon of history's most famous motorcycle gang meant for the future of American culture. He says: "To see the Hell's Angels as caretakers of the old 'individualist' tradition 'that made this country great' is only a painless way to get around seeing them for what they really are -- not some romantic leftover, but the first wave of a future that nothing in our history has prepared us to deal with."
As we've seen in recent years, we surely have not been prepared to deal with "a man who has blown all his options [who] can't afford the luxury of changing his ways... [who] has to capitalize on whatever he has left, and he can't afford to admit - no matter how often he's reminded of it -that every day of his life takes him farther down a blind alley."
It's always disheartening to read these old books, like Thompson's own FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72 and see that our present condition was never a surprise; we as a country stood on the railroad tracks screaming at the light of the distantly approaching train for literal decades but never cranked the railroad switch. And now, just like in HELL'S ANGELS' postscript, we're being beaten to within an inch of our lives by the outlaw gang we never thought would turn on us despite the fact that they warned us repeatedly that they would do exactly that.
As we've seen in recent years, we surely have not been prepared to deal with "a man who has blown all his options [who] can't afford the luxury of changing his ways... [who] has to capitalize on whatever he has left, and he can't afford to admit - no matter how often he's reminded of it -that every day of his life takes him farther down a blind alley."
It's always disheartening to read these old books, like Thompson's own FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72 and see that our present condition was never a surprise; we as a country stood on the railroad tracks screaming at the light of the distantly approaching train for literal decades but never cranked the railroad switch. And now, just like in HELL'S ANGELS' postscript, we're being beaten to within an inch of our lives by the outlaw gang we never thought would turn on us despite the fact that they warned us repeatedly that they would do exactly that.
I feel like this would have made for a very good longform article, but as a book-length topic it was stretched pretty thin. I mean kind of the point of the book was to show how there was not that much behind the Hells Angels as the media made it seem, so yeah. And maybe this is just me reading into it, but HST didn't even seem that into it, it didn't have the usual vim and vigor his writing does. Maybe it's also a function of the time... the Hells Angels aren't much of a thing anymore, and a lot of the time I found myself wondering why I was even reading it at all (the answer is because it seemed appropriate reading material to accompany my move to Oakland).
This isn't a very coherent review, but oh well. In summation, the book was kinda meh.
This isn't a very coherent review, but oh well. In summation, the book was kinda meh.
The Good Doctor has some insightful things to say about the way media shapes our collective perception and the outlets that the losers in Herr Capitalism's endless march toward The Future turn to when left to their own desperation, but so much rape apology sits heavy on the gut.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
Pinnacle of gonzo journalism. Hard-hitting realities of the Hell's Angels initiations really makes you question if humans are ready to submit to a cause, just to belong. Hilarious in some places and horrifying in others - insightful and exciting all through.
“angels” isn’t the word i’d use for this group tbh
Details HT's experience living amongst the Angels for a year in the mid 60s. Very comprehensive.