Hell's Angel (Jeff Mitchell)

Title: Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club
Author: Sonny Barger
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Pages: 272
Summary:
I found this book at Barnes and Noble on a discount book shelf. The price was reduced to half off and the cover looked intriguing. I had heard many things about the book from the internet and the news and I felt I should read it.
This book chronicles the life and events of Sonny Barger’s life and explains the formation of the Hell’s Angels Biker Gang. The story first details how Barger was born in a peaceful neighborhood and how he quickly developed a disdain for cops. Barger then lied about his age and joined the Navy. Once the Navy discovered he was only 16, Barger was honorably discharged and moved back to Oakland California. Once he returned to Oakland he and his fellow veterans formed their own biker gang and banded fellow biker gangs together and called the coalition the Hell’s Angels.. Once he formed the gang, Barger quickly built up a reputation and developed many rivals. Barger began to war with his fellow bikers and eventually ended up going to jail after it was discovered he planned to bomb a rival biker’s clubhouse. After being released from jail, Barger developed throat cancer and had a Laryngectomy. Barger currently lives in Phoenix Arizona and is not as active in the Hell’s Angels.
Audience:
I feel that the audience for this book is anyone that is unfamiliar with gangs or crime, as it really brings you into this criminal underworld and show that fugitives are really normal people.


Writing Style:
The author’s writing style is very clear and direct, similar to Ernest Hemmingway’s. Barger’s language is very understandable and connects to a “common man” audience. His lack of flowery language represents what the book is truly about.
“I didn’t know anything about anybody getting beaten during the day with pool cues. As far as I was concerned, if you are going to beat somebody, you should use an ax handle or a baseball bat. A pool cue is a very bad weapon to use on somebody because they break too easily.” (168)
Quotes:
“…if you got to go through fifty people to get to him, you’re gonna get to him.” (168) I found that this passage demonstrated how the Hell’s Angels mentality was very extreme and sincere.
“I snorted so much coke I didn’t know what I was doing from one moment to the next.” (177) This quote conveys Barger’s inner struggles while he tried to maintain control of the Hell’s Angels.
“I’d just as soon go back to prison. In prison, they treat the old convicts with respect. They buy you cigarettes and ice cream and listen to your stories. That sounds like a helluva lot more fun than playing Scrabble with the geriatrics.” (205) Sonny Barger has a very strong inner youth. This is shown by how he feels more at home in a prison than a retirement home.
Interaction:
I found this book to be a very fulfilling read. The first person narrative allowed the book to be written with very strong voice, while also allowing strong informational accounts of events. Barger also had many characters in this novel, which made to biography feel very rich and insightful. The book also contains a plethora of photos which make this biography feel like and underworld scrapbook. Once you complete this novel you can feel as if you have successfully learned about the life of another human being, Sonny Barger. This is one of the most inquisitive and poignant biographies I have read so far.