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''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. Thompson's vivid account of his experiences with California's most no-torious motorcycle gang, the Hell's Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial An-gels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell. His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, ''For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson's book is a thoughtful piece of work.'' As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell's Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend. From the Hardcover edition.
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Hell's Angels A Strange and Terrible Saga Hunter S. Thompson
from the back cover: The barbarians are no longer at the city gates. . . they are in the city! And Hunter S. Thompson, America's most brazen and ballsy journalist, tells their story as no one else can! "A close view of a world most of us would never dare encounter." -- The New York Times Book Review "For all its uninhibited tone and its sardonic humor Thompson's book is a thoughtful piece of work. . . He was not gulled by their self-conscious shock tactics or the mountebank obscenities they practice in public." -- The New Yorker Hunter S. Thompson is a freelance writer from San Francisco, Aspen, and points east. His research on the Hell's Angels involved more than a year of close association with the outlaws -riding, loafing, plotting, and eventually being stomped. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he began writing as a sports columnist in Florida. He started his first novel while studying at Columbia University in New York City. Since then he has worked on newspapers and magazines in New York, San Juan, and Rio de Janeiro. His articles have appeared in The Reporter, The Nation, Esquire, and Rolling Stone.
Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as "unsold or destroyed" and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it. Copyright © 1966, 1967 by Hunter S. Thompson Copyright renewed 1994, 1995 by Hunter S. Thompson All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. http://www.randomhouse.com Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-96723 ISBN: 0-345-41008-4 Manufactured in the United States of America First Ballantine Books Mass Market Edition: November 1967 First Ballantine Books Trade Edition: August 1996 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
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To the friends who lent me money and kept me mercifully unemployed. No writer can function without them. Again, thanks. HST
The idea for this book came from Carey McWilliams, editor of The Nation, who asked me to write an article on the weird phenomenon of motorcycle gangs. The article appeared in The Nation in April 1965. Carey's ideas and suggestions gave the book a framework and perspective that it might not otherwise have had.
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