Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs is a book written by Hunter S. Thompson, first published in 1966 by Random House. It was widely lauded for its up-close and uncompromising look at the Hells Angels motorcycle club, during a time when the gang was highly feared and accused of numerous criminal activities. The New York Times described Thompson's portrayal as "a world most of us would never dare encounter."
It was Thompson's first published book and his first attempt at a nonfiction novel. Thompson had previously written two unpublished fictional books, one of which was eventually published in 1998.
The book's epigraph is a translation of François Villon's 15th-century poem Ballade du concours de Blois:
- In my own country I am in a far-off land
I am strong but have no force or power
I win all yet remain a loser
At break of day I say goodnight
When I lie down I have a great fear
Of falling."