Freedom by Sonny Barger, Sunday Soul Reads Find

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

There are few men who are as quintessentially American as Sonny Barger. He is patriotic—a veteran who loves his country. He is independent—choosing his own path on his motorcycle, living life on his own terms. He is outspoken—he has boldly criticized injustices in American law and society despite the backlash this has evoked from the establishment. Yet the element that he finds most important, most sacred, most American, is freedom.

In Freedom, Sonny articulates many of the principles he employs in his own life. Whether he is regarded as a leader, a rebel, a revolutionary, a criminal, or a soldier, Sonny's outlook has been influenced not just by school but by the military, prison, and his experiences riding with the world's most notorious motorcycle club. It was on these various journeys that he learned the lessons that are most important in his life and the qualities he respects when he sees them in others:

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The rebellious, high-octane spokesman for the "biker lifestyle without boundaries," Barger now rides his customized Harley in Arizona, seeking "the Zen of the highway." The iconoclastic author of the memoirHell's Angels and the novel Dead in 5 Heartbeats now offers a useful guide to maintaining personal freedoms and self-respect on streets mean and otherwise. As might be expected, Miss Manners and Dale Carnegie are left in the dust (with precepts such as "screw fightin' fair") as the fiercely independent Barger rolls out his practical, mostly straight-arrow advice, beginning with a warning: "When you break new earth, you'll instantly be considered an outsider." His experiences in the military, prison and on the road have not only shaped Barger's personal philosophy, they serve as his primary metaphors, e.g., "Life is one long boot camp and only extreme and strenuous life experience can turn you into the complete soldier." In addition to tips on confronting bullies, Barger covers everything from survival skills and self-reliance to teamwork and trust ("My friends are my family"). While many of Barger's 50 precepts are standard self-help fare, rudderless teens needing lessons in confidence, courage, honesty and individuality may find Barger more of a kindred spirit than, say, the Chicken Soup purveyors
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

After a couple of memoirs, a novel, and an anecdote collection, Barger presents words to live by, aimed at chopper pilots but actually for everyone. The wisdom arises from Barger's colorful past as a kingpin in the Oakland, California, and national Hell's Angels. Some of it is obvious. "If you're gonna ride, wear leather," for instance, is, as well as damn fine fashion advice, solid counsel for hurling oneself down the highway on a two-wheeled motor vehicle. "Screw fightin' fair" is a little more esoteric, but "Do you fight fair or do you fight to win?" Barger asks before recalling the time when "a group decided to invade our gathering with weapons, clubs, knives, and baseball bats" (this was at a book signing, not a catalogers' meeting about replacing AACR2). As to management theory and practice, "Only one person can ride a motorcycle," Barger intones, which correlates to his bottom line on life: take control of it. And if you're "gonna take a beating[,] . . . fight back." The icon hath spoken. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "And I will. Be free." Sonny Barger December 28, 2008

By J. Guild TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

On February,2007,I submitted a review on "Hell's Angles" by Sonny Barger; where he writes all about his life as the leader of The Hell's Angles.
In this book, Barger reveals the ideals and character that enabled him to remain at the top of a lifestyle that is as tough as any imaginable.
While few would want to emulate the life Barger chose to live,the principles that he followed are no different than those followed by others that attain and hold onto the heights that others have followed;regardless of the "career" they have chosen.
It is hard to believe, that the very same principles Sonny Barger discusses,are essentially the same found in books,seminars or whatever;of the leading motivational gurus.
Barger is a very coherent communicator and when he explains these principles through the eyes and life of a Biker;there is no doubt left as to what he is saying.Berger shows that ;while the media portrays the world of the Hell's Angles as a world that prevails by muggings,fistfights,extreme loyalities,abuses of every kind,respect,strength,determination,etc.; being and maintaining leadership in a Motorcycle Gang ;differ from being a Corporate ,or any other,leader; in details..not principles.
The book is presented as 50 Principles,each different and distinct .
Here is just an indication of the principles Berger discusses;

"Treat Me Good,I'll Treat You Better.Treat Me Bad,I'll Treat You
Worse."

"An Organization Can't Be All Chiefs."

"Stay Alert In The Pack.What Happens To You Happens To The Rider
Behind You."

"If You Want To Travel Fast,Travel Light."

"Early Is On Time,On Time Is Late."

5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom June 4, 2008

By Victor Shurtz

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would recommend this book to any father that wants to teach his son or his daughter fifty standards to live by. This book give us fifty princilals that should be taught to our young. Sonny gives us hints on everything from how to deal with Bullies, to how to handle yourself if someone wants your woman. He talks about our political situation, he talks about helmet laws and he also talks about drugs, alcohol and smoking. It doesn't matter if you live in the motorcycle community or if your just another citizen, this book will help you teach your teens a code of honor we all should live by.
Great job Sonny

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth and the American Way....way back when July 19, 2007

By Toni Stafford

Format:Hardcover

I just got this book and love it. Sonny Barger has taken his years of hard living and forged a gem from it in wise words and lessons learned.
Although I don't share his opinion of law enforcement, since we do need them around, I do share his love of country, making family of friends when your own family isn't there and never has been, his ability to keep the faith with his club and friends and get it back in return.

As a fellow freedom lover, I like this book and wish a lot of folks would read it and take from it something to use in their own life. Make the best of this life and don't take any, well, you know what. Best to Sonny. If he writes any more books, I'm reading them. He's good at this.

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Dead in 5 Heartbeats by Ralph (Sonny) Barger

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

Ralph "Sonny" Barger first gained the attention of the book world with his bestselling memoir Hell's Angel. Now he uses what he’s learned from a life insidea subculture few will ever know to create his no-holds-barred first novel, giving readers a taste of thecamaraderie, the pain, and the thrills of what it’s like to live life on two wheels.
Everett John "Patch" Kinkade just wants to be left alone. The former president of the Infidelz, the most powerful motorcycle club in California, Patch has grown weary of the responsibilities and burdens that come with the mantle of leadership. He leaves California for Arizona, determined to start a new life and to put a few hundred miles between him and the tragedy that tore his family apart.
But it isn't long before a new crisis pulls Patch back to his old stomping grounds. Tension between the Infidelz and a rival club, the 2Wheelers, erupts one night in a lethal free-for-all, littering a casino with the corpses of club members and ordinary citizens alike. The newspapers call it a war, and Patch knows he must return to help the club, either by making peace or by charging into battle.Now it's not just his life at stake, but the lives of the rest of the Infidelz as well, and Patch would fight the Grim Reaper himself to protect his brothers. Prepared to destroy any man who crosses his path, even if it means confronting the demons from his past, Patch gases up his Harley, sharpens his blade, and heads out on the highway for what could be his final ride.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Legendary Hell's Angel Barger (Hell's Angel; Ridin' High, Livin' Free) teams once again with co-authors Keith and Kent Zimmerman on this debut novel of motorcycles and murder. Patch Kinkade, ex-president of the Oakland, Calif., chapter of the Infidelz motorcycle club, the toughest MC in the West, has relocated to Arizona in the wake of a busted marriage. But he finds that ties to home and past are not easily severed. The Infidelz have a serious dust-up in a bar with three other clubs-the 2Wheelers, Soul Sacrifice and the Gun Runners ("Fists flew everywhere. Broken ribs. Broken arms. Broken bottles. Broken teeth. Broken pride)"-and after it's over, a new member of the Infidelz lies dead in the parking lot, his murder seemingly unrelated to the fight inside. Ahab, the president of the Oakland chapter, hunts down Patch and asks him to investigate. Soon enough, the reluctant Patch is back in Oakland, facing renegade FBI agents and unexpected treachery and deceit. The authors have an un-ironic, breezy style: "Patch wore no businessman's haircut. The wind was his stylist." Despite colorful nicknames (girls named Blondie and LiLac, dudes called Nine Inch, 12-12 and Eight Ball), thin characterization leads to reader confusion, and degenerate behavior makes it difficult to cheer for the novel's putative good guys. The mystery falls flat, but there's plenty of sex, violence and tricked-out bikes in this "gasoline and adrenaline" ride. Barger's fans should love it.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

When Marco, one of the most respected members of Infidelz, California's top motorcycle gang, is murdered in cold blood, the gang is obligated to respond. They send an emissary to their former president, Patch Kinkade, who's opted for the quiet life in the desert. Patch reluctantly heads back to Oakland, either to negotiate a peace or mobilize his troops. This is the literary equivalent of a Roger Corman biker flick. The good guys are bad guys, the bad guys worse, and the cops worse yet. Plus the chicks--sorry, nothing PC here--are hot, compliant, and irrelevant. The conclusion does include a family-values moment in which Patch "adopts" a fallen comrade's orphaned son, but this is still a biker book: lots of testosterone, lots of thousand-yard stares, and lots of kicks to the groin. Former Hell's Angel Barger's autobiography was a best-seller, and he has a built-in audience of bike-riding yuppies who will love kickin' some vicarious butt while sippin' a bottled water. Wes Lukowsky
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