Original publication: BikerTrash.com
Original byline: Larry Gore
Hell’s Angel – Sonny Barger
Last April, BikerTrash.com had the honour of writing the the first published review of Hell’s Angel – The life and times of Sonny Barger and the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club. Simply put, we liked the book and found it to be an incredible window into the world of the HAMC and into the life of Sonny Barger.
Fortunately – for Barger and the book publishers – tens of thousands of other people liked the book also. Now, almost a year later, the book has become a best-seller and the movie rights have been purchased by Fox.
These recaps of various reviews worldwide provide a sense of the public and media reaction to the book and to Sonny Barger personally. (For a full list of review links or a chance to order Sonny Barger Salsa, scultures or merchandise visit the Sonny Barger website.)
“You know the world has changed when the foremost member of the Hell’s Angels barnstorms across the country with a cell phone on his Harley.” ABC News “Across the world the name Sonny Barger instills fear and awe amongst hard hearted Hell’s Angels. He is the ultimate hell raiser, and makes no disguise of the fact that he uses violence to command respect. Barger is the modern day Butch Cassidy or Billy the Kid. He is an icon, not only amongst his own, but also for those who still believe in the 1960s image of the Easy Rider; the motorcycle rebel intent on freedom, whatever the cost.” — BBC World Service “Until then, read a good book. I just finished Hell’s Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club which left me a little sad, but certainly more aware about the outlaw motorcycle culture in America.” — The Street.com “He has served eight years in prison, survived a near lifetime of drug abuse and is not afraid to use violence to maintain “respect”. But over the next few days the godfather of the Hell’s Angels will put all his efforts into marketing. Ralph “Sonny” Barger, a name that prompts awe and fear among Angels chapters across the world, has taken his foot slightly off the pedal and decided to hit the literary stands with his autobiography, Hell’s Angel, which he will be promoting in London and Shakespeare country over the next four days during his first visit to the UK.” —The London Evening Standard “In 1947 a gang of bikers careened through the Californian backwater of Hollister breaking shop windows and harassing bystanders. A few years later the Hollister events were corralled into a film, a kind of modern Western, called The Wild One and starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. You might recall Brando as Johnny, the tough-talking, creamy-hearted white-hat and Marvin as his brawling, weasel-mouthed rival, Chino. Clearly the audience is meant to root for Johnny. Fifteen-year-old Sonny Barger thought Johnny was a sap. Barger was 100 per cent Chino’s man. Growing up tough in the industrial badlands of northern California in the Forties and Fifties, Sonny Barger didn’t do anything nice boys were meant to do. He played truant, got drunk, stole, beat up his schoolmates, smoked dope and – peculiarly scary this – wore “Levi’s with one-inch cuffs on the bottom”. Over and above all of these things, Sonny Barger did bikes. Ancient BSAs, then Indians and finally Harleys.” The London Evening Standard “DON’T TREAD ON THEIR TRADEMARK Hell hath no fury like…a Hell’s Angel who feels his intellectual property rights have been infringed. That’s what Morrow found out recently when it made up 5,000 bandannas to promote Hell’s Angel, Ralph “Sonny” Barger’s memoir of his life with the motorcycle club. The bandannas, which read “Sonny Barger is Hell’s Angel,” were intended only as promotional favors within the book trade. But that wasn’t good enough for the celebrated club. “As Sonny said to me, ‘We’re Hell’s Angels. We beat people up for wearing that patch,'” said Fritz Clapp, corporation counsel for the club. When Morrow told Clapp that the bandannas had already been given out, he said, “Well, you better get them back.” And they did.” Entertainment Weekly “Most Hell’s Angels are great riders. A group of Hell’s Angels cruising down the road, riding next to each other and traveling at a speed of more than 80 miles an hour, is a real sight. It’s something else, a whole other thing, when you’re in the pack riding. It’s fast and dangerous, and, by God, you better be paying attention. Whatever happens to the guy in front of you is going to happen to you. It’s different than other vehicles. You gotta be alert. Like Fuzzy, an Oakland Angel, once said, “Goddamn, we do 85 or 90 in the rain sometimes. I don’t even go that fast in my car!” — Penthouse.comArchive notice: This article is preserved from the original BikerTrash.com archive. It reflects information available at the time of publication. Please verify dates, locations, prices, links, and other details before relying on them.