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HANGMEN: Riding with an Outlaw Motorcycle Club in the old days.
Come along for an action packed ride of brotherhood and violence. Reliving the glory days of outlaw motorcycle clubs in the Valhalla of California in the 1960's and the 1970's.
422 pages, Paperback
Published January 11, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 31, 2024
Reviewed by Christine for Readers' Favorite
Hangmen: Riding with an Outlaw Motorcycle Club in the Old Days is a raw and gritty memoir that takes readers into motorcycle gangs in the 60s and 70s. Dale E. Arenson was a high school dropout from a broken family. His two options were enlisting in the Vietnam War or hanging out with an infamous motorcycle club called Hangmen. His parents refused to permit him to enlist in the army, so Dale ended up as a Hangmen biker. He chronicles the highs and lows of first being a hanger-on at age 17, then becoming a prospect at 19, and finally becoming a fully-fledged patch holder of the Hangmen. The motorcycle gangs had a tight brotherhood that revolved around riding, drinking, drugs, women, sex, and fighting. Their shenanigans are highlighted in an honest portrayal of what the motorcycle lifestyle was all about.
Dale E. Arenson writes with honesty about his experiences without romanticizing the motorcycle gang lifestyle or downplaying its brutality and violence. This book is not for the faint-hearted. Hangmen is an action-packed, white-knuckle, adrenaline roller coaster ride that will mesmerize you until the end. This is a nostalgic glimpse back into Californian history that should be preserved, no matter how controversial. I thoroughly enjoyed the numerous photographs of the Hangmen included in the book as they also told another more visual story that captured my imagination. I did not know that so many motorcycle gangs were operating, as I have only heard about the Hell’s Angels. This was an addictive read that had me continuously on the edge of my seat.
Hangmen: Riding with an Outlaw Motorcycle Club in the Old Days is a raw and gritty memoir that takes readers into motorcycle gangs in the 60s and 70s. Dale E. Arenson was a high school dropout from a broken family. His two options were enlisting in the Vietnam War or hanging out with an infamous motorcycle club called Hangmen. His parents refused to permit him to enlist in the army, so Dale ended up as a Hangmen biker. He chronicles the highs and lows of first being a hanger-on at age 17, then becoming a prospect at 19, and finally becoming a fully-fledged patch holder of the Hangmen. The motorcycle gangs had a tight brotherhood that revolved around riding, drinking, drugs, women, sex, and fighting. Their shenanigans are highlighted in an honest portrayal of what the motorcycle lifestyle was all about.
Dale E. Arenson writes with honesty about his experiences without romanticizing the motorcycle gang lifestyle or downplaying its brutality and violence. This book is not for the faint-hearted. Hangmen is an action-packed, white-knuckle, adrenaline roller coaster ride that will mesmerize you until the end. This is a nostalgic glimpse back into Californian history that should be preserved, no matter how controversial. I thoroughly enjoyed the numerous photographs of the Hangmen included in the book as they also told another more visual story that captured my imagination. I did not know that so many motorcycle gangs were operating, as I have only heard about the Hell’s Angels. This was an addictive read that had me continuously on the edge of my seat.
January 8, 2023
Horrible, mind numbing book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews