Reddit mentions of Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga (Modern Library (Hardcover))

Read this

Thompson did a book on the HA. Really fun story.

Here's a list, off the top of my head - I know all these are on my bookshelf, but I'm probably missing a few more:

Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club by Sonny Barger

Freedom: Credos from the Road by Sonny Barger

Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-Raising Motorcycle Stories by Ralph Sonny Barger

Dead in 5 Heartbeats by Sonny Barger

Under and Alone by William Queen

No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns

Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga (Modern Library) by Hunter S. Thompson

Street Justice by Chuck Zito

The Original Wild Ones: Tales of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club by Bill Hayes

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart

The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa by Neil Peart

Against the Wind: A Rider's Account of the Incredible Iron Butt Rally by Ron Ayres

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford

Honda CB750: The Complete Story by Mark Haycoc

Shovelhead Red The Drifter's Way by Roy Yelverton

Shovelhead Red-Ridin' Out by Roy Yelverton

A Twist of the Wrist 2: The Basics of High-Performan​ce Motorcycle Riding by Keith Code

Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Lee Parks


Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig - Still my favorite. A high school english teacher bought it for me when he found out I had just passed my motorcycle road test. I've read it at least 15 times, and get something new from it each time.


But the best recommendation - Buy the FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL for your bike and read it. Read it often, until you can almost turn to the exact page for each procedure.

Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer. Definitely not boring.

Also maybe some Hunter S. Thompson - try Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or The Rum Diary or Hell's Angels (if you're looking for something a little more in-depth and serious).

And if I can use your having picked up Fast Food Nation as a guide... I also recommend Mad in America (about the way the country has dealt with mental health in the past and how they deal with it now) and Say You're One of Them (fiction-but-could-easily-be-true short stories about Africa). That last one was really unsettling.

A few fiction suggestions -

George R.R. Martin - Game of Thrones

Philip K. Dick - Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep

Frank Herbert - Dune

Max Brooks - World War Z


As for non-fiction-

Confessions of a Yakuza

Hunter S. Thompson - Hell's Angels

I couldn't stand LOTR either. It just dragged on and on. I absolutely love The Hobbit. It's much shorter with way fewer of the tedious descriptions. You might also like Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. If you want to go the nonfiction route, maybe try Hell's Angels. It's about the two years Hunter S. Thompson spent living with the Hell's Angels in the mid '60s. It's crazy and awesome.