Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-raising Motorcycle Stories

by Ralph Barger, Sonny Barger

An angel spreads his wings. . . .

Sonny Barger is the number-one spokesman for the motorcycle experience. His New York Times bestseller, Hell's Angel, was an exhilarating history of his adventures with the world's most notorious motorcycle club. Now he brings us rousing, moving, and wildly entertaining true stories of his renegade brothers and sisters in the relentless pursuit of liberty, individuality, and the "ultimate ride."

And what stories he has to tell -- freewheeling, bare-knuckle tales of brawls and battles, brotherhood, breathtaking adventures, crazy quests, and the inevitable classic scrapes with "John Law." The most colorful legends and unforgettable characters of biker lore come alive in this book. In addition, celebrities like Steve McQueen, Johnny Paycheck, and David Crosby thunder through these pages in a sensational collection of rebel tales that runs the gamut from poignant and inspiring to thrilling and utterly outrageous.

Whether you ride, have never ridden, or dream of riding, Ridin' High, Livin' Free is a reading experience you won't soon forget -- a fascinating glimpse into a unique culture of freedom that recognizes only one commandment: the code of the road.

Genres: Biography, Motorcycle, Adventure, Crime

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger (born October 8, 1938) is a founding member (1957) of the Oakland, California, U.S. chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. He is also the author of five books - Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club (2000), Dead in 5 Heartbeats (2004), Freedom: Credos from the Road (2005), 6 Chambers, 1 Bullet (2006), and Let's Ride: Sonny Barger's Guide to Motorcycling (2010) - and editor of the book Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-Raising Motorcycle Stories (2003).


Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_B...

Reviews

[Damien · Rating 1 out of 5]

better than the back of the shampoo bottle but not quite as good as good as the can of hairspray

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

From the endpage: Have you got a hell-raising motorcycle tale to tell? Send it along to story@sonnybarger.com. If it fits, we'll be in touch.

So maybe we can expect more lame retreads. Heck yeah!

Barger is much better at retailing his own colorful stories, rather than recycling the pale anecdotes of others, as he mostly does here. I mean, is lady buys her own hog and that really shows her old man really any competition for leader of Hells Angels builds his own chopper, named Sweet Cocaine after his inspiration of choice, has it stolen from in front of a jewelry store while he is buying a gift for his old lady, and then wreaks his revenge? See Barger's Hell's Angel for this little noir piece.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

While some of the stories were pretty entertaining, I also found some of them to be pretty obviously false that it eventually became a case of just getting the book over with. But I can't say that it was the worst that I've read.

[Mike Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these books on larger to life characters. Well written.

[Erik · Rating 1 out of 5]

100% underwhelming. exactly what i expected from a braggadocio like barger…

[Dirk · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of those books that I saw at the FotL used book sale and thought “SCORE!”.

Sonny Barger has been a Hells Angel since 1957. He’s gotta have some great stories to tell. If there was one thing I was not expecting when I bought this book it’s that the book would be boring.

But it is. I thought so anyway. There might be some exciting stories further on in the book but I wouldnt’ know because I didn’t finish it.

Boring is the about the worst sin a book can have for me.

I’m sorry the book was boring. I was looking forward to some ‘hell-raising motorcyle stories’. Oh well.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some 'ok' stories in this book, but for the most part its a bunch of tall tales punctuated by hardcase, macho characters,with a touch of sensitive biker dude for good measure.

The inclusion of more than one ghost story in here really ruined what might have been a 3 star rating. There is literally a story about one of the bikers giving a ghost a ride and keeping him in a room and showing it to his family. Yeah... true story.

Not sure what I was expecting from this book really, but not that.

[Adrien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bunch of motorcylce stories, compiled by Sonny Barger.
There are some good ones there are some bad ones, but they all make you want to ride.
I liked that they weren't all about bikers that ride with clubs or ride Harleys, it was a pretty divers bunch of stories.

[Ruth Segal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. If I read it at night I had trouble calming down to sleep, its got so much biker adventure happening. Really gives the inside story on biker commeraderie. Fun accounts about the lengths people will go in their relationships with motorcycles. A very fun book.

[Jonathanfstick · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fun, quick read....

[Jesper Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

great collection of biker stories

[Ron Fieldson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lost interest and could not finish

[Na · Rating 5 out of 5]

You meet the nicest people on a Honda.

[Tammi Whitcomb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it almost half way through. Not much about Sonny in this one. Other people's short stories and I got bored with them so I gave up. Sorry Sonny.

[Silvio Volpatto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molte storie, alcune divertenti, altre assurde...

[Michael S · Rating 4 out of 5]

He signed it for me too!!

[Gina M Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories are so full of shite someone's eyes are very brown. Some are too stupid to be believed. Might make good bathroom reading material.

[Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a light, fun, and easy read. It is several fun short stories, and I love Sonny. He's a true American icon. Enjoy!

[Thunder the Unicorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining stories from Barger.

[Louis DeFrancesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entertaining read courtesy of Sonny. Lots of interesting stories that vary in range from light-hearted and humorous to heavy and existential.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in spots but not as good as his first book

[Dave Maxted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny shit, still portrays bikers as lovable rogues misunderstood