The Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers

Rating:
Summary: The most intelligent analysis of outlaw biker dynamics.
Review: Daniel Wolf's look at the dynamics of an outlaw biker group is bar none the most comprehensive and well-written analysis I have found to date. He is refreshingly objective even though he shares many of the same characteristics and drives of his brother bikers. I am a Harley rider and a biker at heart, though not a one-percenter in reality; Mr. Wolf's book has provided me with as close and detailed an experience of riding with the one-percenter crowd as I'll probably ever get.

Note, some of the concepts and conclusions presented by Mr. Wolf may seem too abstract or unimportant to a reader not intersted in the study of human behavior. One can tell that he wrote the main chapters of this book as his dissertation and that his intended audience were fellow scholars.

Overall, this is a fantastic book, even if one skips some of the more technical portions.

Five stars and a strong recommendation!!

Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read so far on the subject
Review: I have ridden for 30 years. I grew up in Oakland California, and I worked in motorcycle shops in Berkeley California so I know something of the outlaw culture from being around one of the centers.

This is the best book on outlaw culture I have ever read if being complete matters. It is not boring, it is fascinating. It is lively, far-reaching and Wolf isn't just another SOB who gathered some gore from Rotten.com, rewrote a few newspaper articles and called it a book.

And, it is about a club other than the Angels. I would not argue that the Angels in many ways define outlawdom but I also know there are many more outlaws (not Outlaws, another one of the Big 4) than members of the H.A.M.C. so this may be more representative than even authoritative works like Barger's. I am purchasing this book after having checked it out and read it from the library so I guess I am voting with my wallet, too.

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!
Review: If you ride a bike, and if you ride a Harley you should read this book. It could help you in or out of a situation you may or may not want to be in. As a biker and someone who lives in the MC world I would suggest this to anyone starting out and wanting to be a rightous biker and brother. Daniel Wolf does an excellent job talking about the morals and values of real bikers. He tells it like it is and what is important to bikers:FREEDOM.

Rating:
Summary: A Startingly Insightful Book
Review: More than 35 years ago, when I was 18, less than a year before the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and in one of those years when it seemed every state teacher's college was tripling its enrollment and becoming a state "university," I asked my father an important question: "Dad," I asked. "What do you think? Should I go to college or should I join the Marines?"

My father and I were never very close. We weren't a happy family. But, he took my question seriously and he gave me the best advice anyone has ever given me. He told me that he could get me a job down at the Ford Plant where he worked. And, if I took that job I would soon have enough money to buy a motorcycle. And, once I had that bike, he told me, I should do what he always wished he could have done with his life; which was just "Go be a free man." This is a book about guys like me who had fathers like mine.

And, it is the only book in print that accurately describes what it feels like to ride with an outlaw club. Sonny Barger tells the truth every time he argues that the Hells Angels are a motorcycle club and not a criminal organization. The "MC World" isn't about crime except tangentially. It is about the disposessed, white working class running for freedom.

Of course, practically no one who reads books anymore has any sympathy for the disposessed, white working class. Now in this country we have accountants posing as outlaws and nerds who like to dress up like gangstas. It would seem that all modern virtue begins with dispising the white working class.

But, if you are one of us, or you are curious about us, or even if you are thinking of flirting with the outlaw life --say you are thinking of hanging around with a club and you still don't know what you are in for-- then you must read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Tedious but marginally interesting...
Review: This book is poorly written and slow going, but offers just enough interesting information to keep you reading. Apparently this guy spent a number of years hanging out with and gaining the trust of this local biker gang and then, with their permission, used them as the subject of his anthropology thesis. The book seems to be a quick re-formatted/re-write of his thesis and as such often contains boring socialogical analysis and an overall plodding style. In many chapters he makes a single point and then bangs it into the ground for 10 or 12 pages as if he was getting extra credit for the number of pages instead of the quality of the content. Additionally, he repeats himself several times, with the same quotes and anecdotes popping up over and over in the book.

In spite of the tedious and shoddy writing style though, the book does offer enough genuine first-hand observations about biker club life to reward your patience, but they are few and far between.

Additionally, for those interested in learning about organized crime aspects of biker gangs this book contains no information on that aspect, since the club the author was riding with apparently did not engage in these types of activities.

If you are interested to find out what the day-to-day lifestyle of your average outlaw biker is like, then this book provides some honest, unsensationalized info.

Rating:
Summary: MUST READ FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN BIKERS
Review: Well, the book was written by an "friend" of the club (at the time), so he was not privy to most of the club business. However, the author spent his time with the Rebels in the late 70's, and very early 80's, so his analysis is very dated.

I prospected with the club in the late 80's, and it was a VERY different club by the time the book was published. And as of the late 90's, the Rebels Motor Cycle club no longer exist. Many of the former members now belonging to the Edmonton, Calgary, and Saskatoon Chapters of the Hells Angels MC.

The book is slow to read, and overly analytical. It was originally the author's thesis, so, unless you're a sociology or anthropology student, you'll get bored. Read Sonny's book, its more real.