Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club (Paperback)

by Sonny Barger (Author), Keith Zimmerman (Author), Kent Zimmerman (Author) "motorcycle run is a get-together, a moving party..." (more)
Key Phrases: full dressers, bottom rocker, motorcycle club, Hell's Angels, San Francisco, Terry the Tramp (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
In this most intriguing and insightful look into the highly controversial, five-decade-old Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC), Barger chronicles the formation, history, and colorful events that have led to the mystique and outlaw image of this free-thinking organization. In 1957, Barger (a technical consultant on several biker films, including Hell's Angels on Wheels and Hell's Angels '69) formed the Oakland chapter, which would become the foundation and serve as headquarters for the entire club. In his own words, Barger shares stories of pool hall fights, motorcycle runs, the importance of loyalty and honor, and relentless battles against the government efforts to destroy the HAMC. He also tells his side of the infamous 1969 Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Raceway. The many photos provide additional glimpses into this wild and dangerous American subculture. A most interesting book that is recommended for popular culture collections.DTim Delaney, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Barger, king of the chopper pilots, road variety, is an American icon, and his life story is a history of the biker lifestyle. As president of the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels, he has seen and survived hassles with the police, peaceniks, and the Rolling Stones, with their "prissy clothes and makeup" --all of which he recounts. He notes fine points, such as the fact that it was Emmett Grogan, of the radical egalitarian Diggers, who suggested that the Angels work security at the Stones' ill-fated free show at Altamont, California. He nonchalantly admits to criminal acts, such as pulling a gun on Keith Richards onstage. Withal, however, he includes only somewhat more sex and violence in his life story than one encounters in most contemporary biographies. Certainly, specific expressions of Barger's biker attitudes may scandalize the squeamish; for instance, his explanation of why women engaged in group sex with bikers: "For a certain kind of chick, it was an honor to get fucked by a bunch of Hell's Angels." Even if such sentiments prove too straightforward and earthy for some, the book is a dandy cultural document. Barger paints an engrossing picture of a distinctive subculture that receives precious little literary attention. Yet bikers probably live in many a library's community. So read up on them, organize a booktalk on Hell's Angels, and some of them may well offer to bring the refreshments, not to mention some invaluable diversity. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060937548
• ISBN-13: 978-0060937546
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,835 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Memoirs of a modern outlaw, July 16, 2000

By	Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club (Hardcover)

I remember a thrilling experience during my childhood in the mid-sixties: while driving to San Francisco, our family car broke down on the Bayshore (101) Freeway. My parents were startled when two long-haired, bearded, beSwaztica'ed patch-holders pulled up on their loud, chopped Harleys. The bikers spoke briefly with my dad, then performed some minor mechanical magic on our carburetor. They accepted no payment for their assistance, but left us a business card featuring their winged deaths-head logo and words to the effect: "You have been assisted by... the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. When we do right, no one remembers. When we do wrong, no one forgets." At least one person has always remembered. Within a mere few years, I had a stripped-down Hawg of my own, and began acquiring tattoos and speeding tickets. While I was never a one-percenter, it seemed during that tumultuous era that *all* motorcyclists were judged "guilty by association" with the legendary Hells Angels. Whether describing doing right or wrong, HAMC president Sonny Barger minces no words in his hard-riding, fast-reading biography. Nor does he pull any punches. He explodes the myths perpetuated by grade-B biker-flicks and trashy "wannabe" publications, but unapologetically depicts the counterculture without romanticizing it. The Angels we meet in these pages are neither ravenous, rapacious Huns nor iron-steed-mounted rescuers of stranded citizens. Barger's raw writing style, anecdotes, and numerous photos give his book genuine, gritty, outlaw character. It should appeal to one-percenters, citizen-bikers, and even to the "cagers" who fear and loathe them. There is something exhilerating, even archetypal, about the sight and sound of a chapter of Hells Angels, in full color, thundering down the highway. Could it be something remniscent of the soaring, awe-inspiring formations of Bombers and Fighters which spawned the post-War motorclubs? More likely, like a pack of wolves running wild, they symbolize an unfettered and formidable free-spirit, feared by a civilized Society.

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hell hath Fury; a fascinating look inside a forbidden world, December 14, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I'm not a motorcycle afficionado. However, I did go to university during the early 70's, and the Hell's Angels were very much part of the zeitgeist of the counterculture revolution. So I wanted to read Sonny Barger's account of how the Hell's Angels were founded and how they lived and died in those turbulent times because I wanted a peek into that secret world.

I found this book absolutely fascinating. Barger tells about some of the original leaders of the Oakland chapter of the Angels, which, with San Bernadino (Berdoo) were the wildest of the wild bunch and at the heart and core of the organization. Many of Barger's closest Hell's Angels charter members died of drugs or murder and this is the most disturbing thing about the entire book. Murder, vicious beatings, drugs are all taken as status-quo. Barger himself went to prison more than once, being a target for prosecution as the top dog of a renegade organization. His account of how he was one of the first to experience the RICO act was fascinating. He certainly was involved in drugs. What else, well, everyone in prison always says they are innocent, so what can you believe?

Barger doesn't neglect the women in his life. Their story is interesting and he tells about his marriages with stark reality yet with some tenderness.

The most amazing thing is how a guy like Barger had such an attraction to danger and bad behavior, yet survived when so many around him died so young. One interesting factor is his upbringing. Son of a drunken, abusive dad and a mother who ran off and abandoned him, he had an strong desire for order and discipline coupled with a complete rebellion against any outside authority. This contradictory nature is apparently not an unusual combination.

Barger ran off to the military, lied about his age to join and would have completed his term but for the discovery of his actual age. True to character, Barger loved the military (order) and didn't always react badly to the discipline (belonging to a gang or club apparently allowed him to accept at least some of the authority.) He took his strong drive for order and organization and turned that into the founding and management of the Angels. Had Barger a less dysfunctional upbringing, he might have been a corporate chieftain, not the leader of a band of counter-culture wild men. Who can tell? His taste for order and discipline showed in the way he organized and policed the club. He spent a lot of time on club management--this was not a life of complete anarchy. A fascinating situation.

Even though I don't share Barger's value system, I certainly got a lot of insight into the Angels, and learned a fascinating piece of counterculture history.

51 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hell's Angel speaks the truth., May 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club (Hardcover)

Back in the late 60's, I was a member of the Green Dragon'sMotorcycle Club in Houston. We were a linked brotherhood with theBanditos MC. During a rally in Dallas, some 50 or 60 Hell's Angels attended. To my pride I was able to meet Sonny Barger, he was at that time with the Oakland Chapter of the Hell's Angel.

He is nothing short of one classy, dedicated to bikes and bikers, and honest to the bone. This book, he brings IT ALL OUT. I was amazed to read how the Angels got started and managed to stay together dispite the law breathing all over them, the public have a definite attitude against them. It was Sonny who kept the brotherhood together. Yes, we all know of the legal problems with the ANgels as well as other biker groups, in this book Sonny is totally honest and forthcoming. He has some very funny stories on state rallys and of course the problem at Altamont. This book is a must read for all bikers and those who WANT TO BE A BIKER. A classic read by Sonny. May God Bless You Sonny and keep doing just what you are doing. Don't change one thing. "The Attorney" Green Dragons MC - Houston