Hell's Angels
by Hunter S. Thompson · first published 1966
47% recommend53% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Thompson's first major book, an immersive account of the Hell's Angels outlaw motorcycle clubs. Readers praise its early look at the subculture and recommend it to fans of his gonzo work wanting more coherence.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This is an in depth examination of the notorious motorcycle club and its members. Thompson was allowed extraordinary access to the lives of various members of the Californian Chapter of the Hell's Angels for almost a year during which time he conducted countless interviews and observed their customs and behaviour from a unique vantage point.
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…nice movies. But damn, read the books! Adding to those two, I'd definitely read: * Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_on_the_Campa... * Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Angels:_The_Strange_a... His ability to just push himself into the situations and into what…
on “Hunter S. Thompson on Finding Your Purpose (1958)” ↗Years ago Hunter S Thompson documented the Hell's Angels, if anyone is interested in this topic. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16032043-hells-angels
on “The undercover special agent who busted a dangerous biker gang” ↗Or if you really enjoyed this, skip right to Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga[1]. Bonus if you currently live in the Bay area, because that's where much of the story is set. It was Thompson's first "breakthru" book and (in my opinion) one of his much…
on “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved (1970)” ↗I'd encourage anyone who has read or watched Fear and Loathing to go and read Thompson's earlier work Hell's Angels. It's a great look into the beginnings of the outlaw club, and is written in what feels like the beginnings of his gonzo style, albeit more reporter than Duke. It's like watching Thompson get a taste…
on “The Origins of Raoul Duke” ↗Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Persig Why We Make Things, and why it Matters, Korn Ahead of the Curve, Broughton Hell's Angels: a strange and terrible saga, Thompson] All changed my thinking about things for different reason, but shared the common theme of making me think more about every idea I have.
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗A highly relevant read, to accompany “On the road” is “Hell’s Angels” by hunter s Thompson. I read them as a pair of books that examine both sides of that era. “fear and loathing in Las Vegas” pretty much closes the door on the Beat Generation, but, I think Hells Angels…
on “The Accidental Book Review That Made Jack Kerouac Famous” ↗…writer. * The Road - Cormac McCarthy * Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy * No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy * On Writing - Stephen King * 11/22/63 - Stephen King * The Stand - Stephen King * Hell's Angels - Hunter S. Thompson * East of Eden - John Steinbeck * Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion * In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗Last year I finally got to read a copy of Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angels" that I had purchased while on a trip in San Francisco back in 2015, and just last week I bumped into this quote that is absolutely prescient for the current state of American society which gave power…
on “Circuit breaker triggered in Japan for stock futures trading” ↗https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas... That passage remains one of the most meaningful things I've read in my life. However, his defining work in my opinion is Hell's Angels. It is prescient in so many ways. Among the most interesting is how early he is able to see, inside the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, the rise of so many later developments in US politics. I will not…
on “How Hunter S. Thompson Became a Legend” ↗I’ll have to check this one out! Also highly recommended — "The Great Shark Hunt", a collection of his pieces through the 60s and 70s. "Hell's Angels" is marvelous, "Fear and Loathing” is probably his best-known, but nothing quite covers the range of HST's work like this book. http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Shark-Hunt-Strange/dp/074325...
on “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved (1970)” ↗This notion of limits and edge reminds me of Hunter Thompson's musings on "The Line" in his piece about the Hell's Angels. He argues (wildly paraphrasing) that the fundamental draw (and in some sense, the art) of motorcycles or extreme sports is in finding that edge or limit. The problem he identifies being that you cannot…
on “The Spoon Theory (2003)” ↗…makes paper books wince. Seriously, there'e relatively few downsides. Comic books don't display well on my tiny phone screen, so I'm not there yet. And not all books are available yet in ebook form (Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson wasn't, but Fear and Loathing WAS.). But realistically, eBooks, e-readers, and the various apps that emulate them ROCK solid.
on “Why you shouldn't buy an e-reader” ↗Language in Thought and Action, S.I. Hayakawa How to Read a Book, Mortimer J. Adler Gilgamesh Beowulf Snowcrash High Output Management, Andy Grove Hell's Angels by Hunter S Thompson Programming Pearls, Jon Bentley Walden, Thoreau Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson Letters from a Stoic, Seneca Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…either. Burroughs, who was quite the gun nut, also recommended that. He also advised to first take out assailants with shotguns. There's a great anecdote in Hunter Thompson's book about hanging with Hell's Angels. Involving a guy who pointed a handgun at one of them, and got shot with it. Also a great sequence in some Seagal film with an Aikido reverse move with an assailant's shotgun. It's a riff on a sword move.
on “NY hospitals pitch tents, nix surgeries to prepare for influx” ↗…sociological experiment that the author conducted was really immersive enough to produce a good take on the subculture. It's fairly obvious this was intended along the lines of Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angels" - which may have spawned an entire genre of sub-culture literature (I don't know if Thompson really originated it or not, there may be earlier examples, perhaps Zora Neale Hurston). The theme is pretty…
on “I don’t want to be an internet person” ↗