Hell's Angels: Hunter S. Thompson (Penguin Modern Classics)

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The first UK edition is a lot scarcer than the first US edition, both which were published in 1967 (copyright page of this first UK edition notes: "Copyright Hunter S. 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. It is the combination of sex and violence, and their linking to those in authority, and the process of control that accounts for the success of these books. The main reason I remember them is I wondered what that white pregnant girl was doing with a bunch of suede dudes. And if so, what were they doing there in the first place, aged fourteen and fifteen, circulating all evening in a bar jammed wall to wall with the state's most notorious gang of outlaws?

Ever since he'd been admitted to the Georgian mansion the feeling of frankness had permeated their conversation. Regardless of what the do gooders and the sociologists and psychiatrists claimed some people had an instinctive bent for creating havoc and resorting to jungle savagery. If the gathering at Tommy's was a little disorganized, it was because Sonny was serving time in the Santa Rita Rehabilitation Center, for possession of marijuana. These guys are outlaw types who should have been born a hundred years ago--then they would have been gunfighters.

How did these two young girls happen to be on a deserted midnight beach with several hundred drunken motorcycle thugs? In addition, members have been observed wearing various types of Luftwaffe insignia and reproductions of German Iron Crosses.

Elaine was determined that no Angel should know her, and aware of her own sexuality to realise that a moment of weakness could drag her down (sic). That all changed when Tony Thompson, a highly respected journalist with a track record of highly readable and successful books on the UK gangland and crime scene produced this.Could the man or woman who is thoroughly awakened possibly do the crazy things which are now expected of him or her every moment of the day?

Like the Angels, the girls were mainly in their twenties--although some were obvious teen-agers and a few were aging whores looking forward to a healthy outdoor weekend. Unlike her husband Roy, Thelma did not have cause to trust her neighbours nor to believe in anything except herself. They still screw up, but they love in their own gritty, possessive, dirty way with their whole hearts. Below the emblem is another patch bearing the local chapter name, which is usually an abbreviation for the city or locality.

By noon it was so hot that many of the riders had taken off their shirts and opened their black vests, so the colors flapped out behind them like capes and the on-coming traffic could view their naked chests, for good or ill. From inner front flap of dustjacket (in full): "The Angels are a Californian motor-cycle gang that rides the highways in packs.