Wednesday, April 10, 2013

outlaw motorcycle clubs - book - 2011 - The Aging Rebel: Dispatches from the Motorcycle Outlaw Frontier


2011
270 pages

Donald Charles Davis is a freelance journalist who currently writes and maintains The Aging Rebel, a blog about outlaw biker issues. This book is an anthology of posts from that blog although much of the blog material focusing on The Mongols Motorcycle Club is absent (and presumably rewritten into another of Davis’ self-published books, Out Bad) and rather focuses, for the most part, on peripheral subject matter to the outlaw biker lifestyle and image.

The items that appear in The Aging Rebel carry a few key themes. Many of the posts relate to motorcycling such as helmet laws, or for greater safety awareness among car-drivers. Many other items are obituaries for bikers who died on the road. Other items are relevant to the world of outlaw bikers, including pieces on a Hells Angels trademark lawsuit and criticism of other reporter’s handling of biker news.

Davis’ book is interesting because its good writing about bikers from someone who knows about the subculture. It’s also old fashioned reporting like what you imagine reporters on tv shows and movies about newswriting churn out. So much of what appears in the news, on all topics and in all sources, are institutional press releases with a reporter’s name added because they tacked on an introduction. Davis investigates his stories, and adds insight drawn from his immense knowledge of his subject matter. His work is exemplary of what journalism can be in an age of ubiquitous self-publishing possibilities, where mainstream journalism arises out of an industrial process and older professional values are taken up by individuals who have a vested interest in exploring a particular subject.

3 comments:

  1. Written by a USMC Vet

    ( I can't argue with any of it. Passing it along as it was received... after deleting forwarding addresses)

    He wrote:

    The American Dream ended (on November 6th) in Ohio. The second term of Barack Obama will be the final nail in the coffin for the legacy of the white Christian males who discovered, explored, pioneered, settled and developed the greatest Republic in the history of mankind.

    A coalition of Blacks, Latinos, Feminists, Gays, Government Workers, Union Members, Environmental Extremists, The Media, Hollywood, uninformed young people, the "forever needy, " the chronically unemployed, illegal aliens and other "fellow travelers" have ended Norman Rockwell's America.

    The Cocker Spaniel is off the front porch...the Pit Bull is in the back yard. The American Constitution has been replaced with Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Chicago shyster, David Axelrod, along with international Socialist George Soros will be pulling the strings on their beige puppet to bring us Act 2 of the New World Order.

    Our side ran two candidates who couldn't even win their own home states, and the circus fattest Chris Christie helped Obama over the top with a glowing "post Sandy" tribute that elevated the "Commander-in-Chief" to Mother Teresa status. People like me are completely politically irrelevant, and I will never again comment on or concern myself with the aforementioned coalition which has surrendered our culture, our heritage and our traditions without a shot being fired. You will never again out vote these people. It will take individual acts of defiance and massive displays of civil disobedience to get back the rights we have allowed them to take away. It will take Zealots, not moderates--not reach-across-the-aisle RINO's to right this ship and restore our beloved country to its former status. Those who come after us will have to risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to bring back the Republic that this generation has timidly frittered away due to "white guilt" and political correctness.....

    I'm done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is disgusting that our president is using mothers and fathers who are emotionally vulnerable to further his political agenda. The mothers and fathers who children were slain our emotionally strained over their loss. Our president is using their grief to further his political agenda. This is the lowest form of political rhetoric a politician can pursue.

    I would hope all the politicians will have enough guts and courage to stand up against gun control. The Constitution says: “shall not infringe”. And, the proposals that are being considered will not stop a madman from duplicating Sandy Hook. It only punishes law-abiding citizens.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Please note that Norman Rockwell produced heroic representations American laborers as well as of scenes of the American Civil Rights Movement.

    You may be confusing Norman Rockwell's vision of America with that of George Lincoln Rockwell, the late founder of the American Nazi Party

    ReplyDelete

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