Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

Last updated
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson (1967 1st ed jacket cover).jpg
First edition
Author Hunter S. Thompson
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Gonzo journalism
Publisher Random House
Publication date
1967 [1] [2]
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages278
ISBN 0-394-42819-6
LC Class 66-18327

Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs is a book written by Hunter S. Thompson, published in 1967 by Random House. [3] It was widely lauded for its up-close and uncompromising look at the Hells Angels motorcycle club, during a time when the gang was highly feared and accused of numerous criminal activities. The New York Times described Thompson's portrayal as "a world most of us would never dare encounter." [4] [5]

Contents

It was Thompson's first published book and his first attempt at a nonfiction novel.

Origins

Hell's Angels began as the article "The Motorcycle Gangs: Losers and Outsiders" written by Thompson for the May 17, 1965 issue of The Nation .[ citation needed ] In March 1965, The Nation editor Carey McWilliams wrote to Thompson and offered to pay the journalist for an article on the subject of motorcycle gangs, and the Hells Angels in particular. Thompson took the job, and the article, published about a month later, prompted book offers from several publishers interested in the topic.[ citation needed ]

Thompson spent the next year preparing for the new book in close quarters with the Hells Angels, in particular the San Francisco and Oakland chapters of the club and their president Ralph "Sonny" Barger. Thompson was upfront with the Angels about his role as a journalist, a dangerous move given their marked distrust of reporters from what the club considered to be bad press. Thompson was introduced to the gang by Birney Jarvis, a former club member and then police-beat reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle . This introduction, coming from an Angel and reporter, allowed Thompson to get close to the gang.

Thompson's residence during the Hell's Angels period at 318 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco 318 Parnassus Ave San Francisco.jpg
Thompson's residence during the Hell's Angels period at 318 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco

Far from being wary of this outsider, the Angels were sincere in their participation, often talking at length into Thompson's tape recorder and reviewing early drafts of the article to ensure he had his facts straight. The gang often visited his apartment at 318 Parnassus Avenue in San Francisco, much to the dismay of his wife and neighbors. Thompson, however, felt comfortable with the arrangement. When "jokingly" threatened with violence, he pointed to a loaded double-barreled shotgun that he kept hanging on his wall and replied in a similar vein that he would "croak two of them first." [6]

Thompson remained close with the Angels for a year, but ultimately the relationship waned. It ended for good after several members of the gang gave him a savage beating or "stomping" over a remark made by Thompson to an Angel named Junkie George, who was beating his wife. [7] Thompson said: "Only a punk beats his wife and dog." [8] The beating stopped only when senior members of the club ordered it. Thompson had essentially ended his time with the Angels by then, but he later noted in letters to friends and Sonny Barger, that the members who had participated in the beating had not been those with whom he had most closely associated. He continued being fond of Barger, writing in his 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas : "Sonny Barger never quite got the hang of it, but he’ll never know how close he was to a king-hell breakthrough." [9]

Plot and themes

The book details Thompson's experiences living with the Hells Angels, a notorious motorcycle club in California. The author spent over a year embedded with one chapter, learning their unique subculture and immersing himself in their lifestyle. He recounts his time spent traveling through California by motorcycle, and describes the contrast between the general lawlessness of the club and the exaggerated fear that very lawlessness engenders in society. [10]

In a contemporary New York Times review of the book, Thompson relates how he "drank at their bars, exchanged home visits, recorded their brutalities, viewed their sexual caprices, became converted to their motorcycle mystique, and was so intrigued, as he puts it, that 'I was no longer sure whether I was doing research on the Hell's Angels or being slowly absorbed by them.' " [10]

The book's epigraph is a translation of François Villon's 15th-century poem Ballade du concours de Blois:

In my own country I am in a far-off land
I am strong but have no force or power
I win all yet remain a loser
At break of day I say goodnight
When I lie down I have a great fear
Of falling.

Effects and criticism

Hell's Angels was the book that launched Thompson's career as a writer. Even though by this point in his career he had published numerous articles for various journals and newspapers and was recognized as a journalist, the book was his first true exposure to a national audience. Reviews of the work were generally very positive and despite a poor performance on the publicity tour by Thompson, who was by his own admission drunk or exhausted for nearly every interview, the book sold relatively well. Even so, Thompson himself made little from the royalties from early editions of the book, a misfortune he blamed on a succession of agents and the book's publisher, Random House.

Thompson's treatment of a gang-rape by Hell's Angels was criticized by feminist Susan Brownmiller in her 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter S. Thompson</span> American journalist and author (1937–2005)

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author. He rose to prominence with the publication of Hell's Angels (1967), a book for which he spent a year living with the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establishing his own subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a journalistic style in which the writer becomes a central figure and participant in the events of the narrative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Barger</span> American outlaw biker (1938–2022)

Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger Jr. was an American outlaw biker who was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in 1957. After forming the Oakland chapter, Barger was instrumental in unifying various disparate Hells Angels chapters and had the club incorporated in 1966. He emerged as the Hells Angels' most prominent member during the counterculture era and was reputed by law enforcement and media to be the club's international president, an allegation he repeatedly denied. The author Hunter S. Thompson called Barger "the Maximum Leader" of the Hells Angels, and Philip Martin of the Phoenix New Times described him as "the archetypical Hells Angel", saying he "didn't found the motorcycle club ... but he constructed the myth". He authored five books, and appeared on television and in film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raoul Duke</span> Fictional character and antihero

Raoul Duke is the partially fictionalized author surrogate character and sometimes pseudonym used by Hunter S. Thompson as the main character and antihero for many of his works. He is perhaps best known as the narrator for his 1971 autobiographical novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The book was originally written under the name Raoul Duke. The character wears a bucket hat and yellow tinted aviator glasses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outlaw motorcycle club</span> Motorcycle subculture

An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a biker gang or motorcycle gang, is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the biker group.

<i>Hells Angels on Wheels</i> 1967 American biker film directed by Richard Rush

Hells Angels on Wheels is a 1967 American biker film directed by Richard Rush, and starring Adam Roarke, Jack Nicholson, and Sabrina Scharf. The film tells the story of a gas-station attendant with a bad attitude who finds life more exciting after he is allowed to hang out with a chapter of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle club.

<i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i> (film) 1998 American film by Terry Gilliam

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American stoner road black comedy film adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name. It was co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, and stars Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, respectively. The film details the duo's journey through Las Vegas as their initial journalistic intentions devolve into an exploration of the city under the influence of psychoactive substances.

<i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i> 1971 novel by Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream is a 1971 novel in the gonzo journalism style by Hunter S. Thompson. The book is a roman à clef, rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Doctor Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960s countercultural movement. The work is Thompson's most famous book and is noted for its lurid descriptions of illicit drug use and its early retrospective on the culture of the 1960s. Thompson's highly subjective blend of fact and fiction, which it popularized, became known as gonzo journalism. Illustrated by Ralph Steadman, the novel first appeared as a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine in 1971 before being published in book form in 1972. It was later adapted into a film of the same title in 1998 by director Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro, who portrayed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, respectively.

The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.

<i>Fear and Loathing in America</i> 2000 book by Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist 1968–1976 is a collection of hundreds of letters Hunter S. Thompson wrote after his rise to fame with his 1966 hit Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. These letters deal primarily with Thompson and his editor at Random House, Jim Silberman, his correspondence with Oscar Zeta Acosta, and his perpetually fluctuating relationship with Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Bowman</span> American outlaw biker and gangster (1949-2019)

Harry Joseph Bowman, also known as "Taco", was an American outlaw biker and gangster who served as the international president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club between 1984 and 1999. During his tenure as president, the club had chapters in more than 30 cities in the United States and some 20 chapters in at least four other countries.

Bibliography of works by American author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Angels</span> International motorcycle club

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Common nicknames for the club are the "H.A.", "Red & White", "HAMC", and "81". With a membership of over 6,000, and 467 chapters in 59 countries, the HAMC is the largest "outlaw" motorcycle club in the world.

Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood, also known as Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision, is a documentary film produced by BBC Omnibus in 1978 on the subject of Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Nigel Finch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club</span> Motorcycle club

Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club (GGMC) is a motorcycle club that began around a motorcycle racing team and friends based out of Los Angeles, California in the United States in 1942. The group was informal and not chartered until 1946. Soon after, the organization spread out from southern California, establishing chapters in Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Indiana, Wyoming, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road Rats Motorcycle Club</span> English outlaw motorcycle club

The Road Rats Motorcycle Club (RRMC) is an English outlaw motorcycle club established in London in the 1960s. Arguably one of the "oldest and toughest motorcycle clubs in the country", the Road Rats are notorious for having fallen out with almost every motorcycle club in the United Kingdom and a few outside of the UK. The club became notable for its clashes with the English Hells Angels chapter, including a shooting on Chelsea Bridge, the Satans Slaves, in which two Road Rats were killed, and for murdering one of the founders of the Cycle Tramps motorcycle gang.

<i>Angels from Hell</i> 1968 film by Bruce Kessler

Angels from Hell is a 1968 biker film directed by Bruce Kessler and starring Tom Stern and Arlene Martel. It was the first film produced by Joe Solomon's Fanfare Films, a firm Solomon had created with the profits from three previous biker films. The film was shot in Bakersfield, California. The screenplay was written by Jerome Wish, and the film used music by The Peanut Butter Conspiracy and The Lollipop Shoppe. Sonny Barger, president of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels, is credited as story consultant.

Hell's Angels '69 is a 1969 Outlaw biker film directed by Lee Madden and Conny Van Dyke. The film stars Tom Stern, Jeremy Slate, Conny Van Dyke, and Steve Sandor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael O'Farrell (biker)</span> American outlaw biker and gangster (1949–1989)

Michael Vincent O'Farrell, nicknamed "Irish", was an American outlaw biker and gangster who served as the vice-president and acting president of the Oakland, California, chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC). O'Farrell was alleged by law enforcement officials to be the second-in-command to Sonny Barger, the reputed international president of the Hells Angels. During the early-mid 1980s, he deputized for Barger, serving as the Oakland chapter president and de facto international leader of the Hells Angels, while Barger recovered from a throat operation for cancer. O'Farrell was murdered in a bar fight in 1989 shortly before he was due to start serving a prison sentence for conspiring to bomb the clubhouse of a rival motorcycle gang, the Outlaws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Angels MC criminal allegations and incidents in California</span>

Numerous police and international intelligence agencies classify the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club as a motorcycle gang and contend that members carry out widespread violent crimes, including drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, gunrunning, extortion, and prostitution rings. Members of the organization have continuously asserted that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have joined to ride motorcycles together, to organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies, and that any crimes are the responsibility of the individuals who carried them out and not the club as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirty Dozen Motorcycle Club</span> Outlaw motorcycle club

The Dirty Dozen Motorcycle Club (DDMC) was an outlaw motorcycle club in Arizona. Founded in 1964, the Dirty Dozen became the preeminent motorcycle gang in the state, and ultimately merged with the Hells Angels in 1997.

References

  1. LC Catalog - Item Information (Full Record). LCCN   66018327.
  2. "LC Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired". catalog.loc.gov.
  3. "HELL'S ANGELS | Kirkus Reviews" via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  4. Fremont-Smith, Eliot (February 23, 1967). "Books of The Times; Motorcycle Misfits—Fiction and Fact" (PDF). New York Times . p. 33.
  5. "Thompson's classic Las Vegas trip". BBC News. February 21, 2005.
  6. Thompson, Hunter S. (1966). Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga . Penguin Books. p. 143. ISBN   0-14-028555-5. OCLC   1001476650.
  7. "Yesterday's Crimes: Hunter S. Thompson Gets Beaten". SF Weekly. October 3, 2016.
  8. CBC (2010-07-07), Hunter S. Thompson meets a Hell's Angel, 1967 | CBC , retrieved 2018-01-26
  9. Thompson, Hunter S. (1972). Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream . New York, New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 179. ISBN   9780394464350. OCLC   748501805.
  10. 1 2 Litwak, Leo E. (January 29, 1967), "Hell's Angels", The New York Times, retrieved February 15, 2012
  11. Brownmiller, Susan (1993). Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape . New York, New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 297–299. ISBN   9780449908204. OCLC   28233179.