[.ca] Hell's angels (ISBN 222109073X)

Chronique amazon.fr:
Bienvenue au club des allumés de la route. Vous allez assister au démarrage d'une horde de Hell's en Harley. Hurlements, pétarades et coups de poing garantis. Mieux que les Freaks Brothers, plus drôle que les fous du volant, le livre raconte l'incroyable équipée du gang qui fit sensation dans les années soixante. Alors que les premières bandes de motards sèment la terreur sur les routes de Californie, le noyau dur et sans doute le plus structuré se nomme les Hell's Angels. Des chevaliers barbares d'un temps nouveau, par ailleurs pères de famille ou employés modèles, qui une fois sur leurs machines n'ont plus ni foi ni loi. Barbes teintes, hirsutes et tatoués, les Hell's portent des blousons de cuir, des vestes en jean sans manches, des sigles nazis et la fameuse tête de mort ailée avec un casque. Ils se rassemblent périodiquement pour fêter n'importe quoi et boire le plus possible. Ce sont pour l'essentiel des êtres primaires et sans scrupules qui n'hésiteront pas à participer à la répression des manifestations contre la guerre au Vietnam. Thompson, reporter azimuté, a suivi durant un an ces seigneurs de la route. L'aventure se termina sauvagement et le livre fut un énorme scandale. Mais il eut le grand mérite de faire découvrir un narrateur de grand talent. --Stellio Paris

This Isn't Your Typical Thompson:
Having read Hell's Angels, A Strange and Terrible saga at least eight times starting in 1968, I never cease to be amazed at the criticisms leveled against it in the ensuing years, the major one being that it's not a Fear and Loathing book. I'm pretty sure it was originally a (very) long article written for The Nation magazine. The Nation ain't Rolling Stone, kids. If you are coming to this book expecting Hunter's usual blend of fact, fiction, and hallucinations, you will be sorely disappointed. "Gonzo journalist" though he is, the operative part there was journalist. He had, after all, developed a rather strong food habit since birth, and had no desire to kick it. He explores the Angels' mystique by letting them provide the history, their then current attitudes, and their lives as outlaws outside the system. He then blends research and his observations gleaned from riding with them for the better part of a year into the mix, producing a riveting book. Since the recent death of Marlon Brando, his movie The Wild One has gained a new audience; it is in fact based on an incident Hunter chronicles in this book, the Rape of Hollister. Oddly, nothing remotely similar to the movie happened there, and some other legendary "motorcycle riots" such as the one at Laconia, New Hampshire, weren't initially riots at all, and certainly didn't involve the Angels, though the media portrayed these events as the brink of Armageddon and gave middle America yet another "dangerous group running wild in their midst," something else to freak over in addition to Communists hiding under every rock. The Angels became, over time, what people expected them to be. Hunter recognized this transformational quality in his own profession: if other reporters, from respected national magazines, could make up stories or at least embellish them enough to freak people out, he could do it better! What you will find in Hell's Angels is great reporting, an unflinching look at real wildness and personal risk, and the genesis of what would become Hunter's trademark style. If for no other reason, fans of Tom Wolfe, Ken Kesey, or the "Beats" (including the real "Dean Moriarty" from On the Road, still alive at the time, still driving, and hanging out with the Pranksters) should read this book for the legendary Acid Test at Kesey's place at La Honda when Hunter and the Angels showed up (by invitation, as Kesey was burning to meet them). In a singularly rare occurrence, we find two journalists just before they became instant icons writing about the same private party, rather than, say an inauguration, or awards ceremony, or some other public spectacle; the "public" was definitely not invited to La Honda. Compare Hunter's account of that weekend with the one that appears in the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test; you might just be surprised by who is the more "legitimate" writer. I obviously love this book and highly recommend it, but again, it isn't FEAR and LOATHING WITH THE HELL'S ANGELS; it's far too serious a situation for that, as you will discover upon reading it. (And if that idea somehow still escapes you, watch Gimme Shelter, the great Maysles brothers' documentary of the Stones free concert at Altamont; if THAT doesn't do it, go down to your local biker bar and kick over a few choppers; you'll deserve what you get.)

Hell-of-a good time:
There are few books that I recommend to people. Off-beat books-bizarre or books that I know won't make the mainstream: Palahniuk's FIGHT CLUB was/is one such book (along with all his works, basically, and also J. T. McCrae's KATZENJAMMER with its on-edge humor and ribald raciness.) But Hunter was one hell of a writer. I don't know how a Stoner, Tweaker, Loadie could write like this. This book broke his friendships with H.A. but descibes them before they incorporated into organized crime. H.A. went big time and so did Hunter and this was both of them in their earlier years. HELL'S ANGELS is a must for Hunter fans, along with ANY of his other books.

not as good as Fear but still very good:
Not as over the top or as wildly entertaining as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but still very well written and highly entertaining. You don't get bland prose from the Doctor, and does it get any better than phrases such as "young blondes with lobotomy eyes"? This book is about 40 years old, and the reader certainly gets a feel for the 1960s, but I wouldn't at all call it, or Fear and Loathing, dated. The book is anecdotally driven, there are a lot of highly amusing stories with the bikers, and the bikers don't come across to me as completely unlikeable. If you like Fear and Loathing, you'll probably like this book too, although it's not as wacky and wild. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.

Hunter S. Thompson is an a$$hole.:
This guy is a self-inflating ballon. No one and nothing is as important in his eyes as he is. His opinion of himself and the world around him is all that really matters. His ability to cunningly insinuate himself into the minds of others dramatically increases the danger he poses. If you have the misfortune to be assigned one of his books in a college class, lament that no one has made "Cliff Notes."

Good book:
While not as funny or well written as "Fear and Loathing", "Hell's Angels" is still a fantastic book. The story picks up drastically when Thompson introduces himself into the narrative, and some of the scenes appear to be straight of of "fear". The cameo by Ginsberg was awesome, too. Really good book.