Freedom: Credos from the Road

Awesome read very informative and enlightening. Gives a good prospective of the Author. MLH&R

When I was a kid, living in the midwest in the late 60s, our parents were terrified of Sonny Barger and his Hells Angels (despite what many writers believe, there is NO apostrophe in "Hells") and we, for the most part, were too. Sure, we admired the media's depiction of these then-modern day cowboys, but our uneasiness about them was often masked because we were insulated these dangerous looking men and their loud motorcycles by a quite comfortable two thousand miles. It took (and is still taking) a long time for the public to truly understand what inspired these "groups of motorcycle enthusiasts," the brotherhood and trust that is so often missing from men's lives in this period of history. This situation is both helped and hindered by a media still fascinated by the MC world, shows like "Sons of Anarchy," in which Mr. Barger plays a semi-recurring role as one of the "First 9," or founders of the fictional club, and the Discovery Channel show "Gangland" do little to provide an answer to the question "Are MC members criminals?"The only answer I can see to this is to ask another question. "Are HUMANS criminals?"Both questions can be answered in the same way. Sonny Barger is a convicted felon. According to Henry Silverglate's book "Three Felonies a Day," virtually every professional in this country is an UNCHARGED and UNCONVICTED felon. I personally know a man who was sent to a Federal minimum security prison for 18 months for conducting his business with the government in a way that saved taxpayers a consideral amount of money and made him nothing, so to call someone a "felon" means very little to me."Freedom" is not a work of protest, nor is it in any way revolutionary. It elucidates what most of us believe about the concept central to American life, but don't often really think about. Because the word appears in the documents that were written during the design of our nation, we all assume Freedom is inviolate and never-changing, but in reality, it is neither. Freedom means what we allow it to mean, and it is vitally important for all Americans to constantly remind themselves what does and most importantly, what does NOT constitute living in a free society.THAT'S what Mr. Barger's book "Freedom" does so well, it lays out exactly what the concept of freedom means to him. When you look past the long hair and beard (neither of which Sonny currently sports), the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the Hells Angels patch on the back of his leather "cut" or vest (which for Sonny isn't usually leather anymore, it's a heavy denim and the bike a beautiful and expensive - still American made, though - Victory) I think you'll find you agree far more than not, with the founder of the most famous (and notorious) motorcycle club in the world.The trouble the U.S. is in these days is because our leaders aren't more like Sonny Barger. If he weren't a convicted felon and ran for office, I would get on my Harley-Davidson FXDF and ride door-to-door to help elect him. Fortunately, Sonny Barger is FAR too honest a man to try for elected office. But wouldn't it be nice if we could get a few of our elected officials to read "Freedom" and realize what it means to the people they are elected to serve?

Good read. Read it in a day and a half. Don’t expect Shakespeare, basic and raw, but enjoyable to read.

Buy this book!

As I was reading Freedom by Sonny Barger, I felt a connection through his book. Sonny tells his belief on freedom and also how his freedom has been crossed and also taken. he tells about he feeling of freedom and stories about when he feel his freedom taken. He tells about his time in prison and how it changed his life for good. He explains that if it wasn't for prison then he would have ended up on a worst road. He also tells about all the things he learn in there from books and other things. The time he feels the most freedom is on his bike. The feeling he feels is the some feeling i feel. With his brothers and the road is he favorite time.I agree because i love riding myself and in a pack of Hells Angels doing 90 mph and almost tire to tire. Its a feeling that not many people would experience. Sonny tells it through stories and feelings. I would recommend this book to anyone because its full of life lessons and its fulled with detail.

This was a worthwhile book, and the best thing that Sonny has written to date. I'm not in full agreement with everything he says, but he does make a number of good points and valid observations. I typically read a book only once, then toss it, sell it, or give it away. This one I've read more than once, it has a permanent place on my bookshelf, and I've purchased copies for friends.Sonny Barger is no "role model," but at least he has the decency to acknowledge his faults and doesn't pretend to be something he isn't. A lot of folks look down upon him for a number of reasons -- when someone has such a formidable reputation (such as Dick Marcinko and G. Gordon Liddy), and presents themselves as "the baddest man alive," they open themselves up to ridicule when it is eventually revealed that they are less than perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, and it's difficult to continue to play the same role past retirement age.Regardless of what you think of Sonny, you owe it to yourself to check this book out.

I had high hopes for this, based on the author's previous works.I suppose this could be considered a self-help book, and many may find it useful for this. You certainly can't discount the author's unique life and life experiences. While most would not call Sonny Barger's life enviable, I'm personally awestruck by the sheer scope of it.Many people will probably pick up this author's works because they want to see what makes a "bad boy" tick, or just to see how insane or uneducated the former head of a notorious motorcycle club can be. Kind of a "talking dog" effect. However, Sonny Barger comes off as intelligent, literate, and for the most part is well spoken and fluid. His phrasing has an economy of words, and gets to the heart of what's trying to be conveyed without excess blather. Many authors could take a lesson here.My disappointment with this is that for the most part it's riddled with cliches that sound great on the surface, but that divide most life situations into black and white, while actual life is not so "cut n' dried", at least in my opinion. Perhaps I just lack the guts to make such drastic decisions, but I don't find life quite as simple as the book would have you believe. However, Mr. Barger is certainly a survivor, and his words are to be respected, though probably not to be followed verbatim.

More like a book advocating common sense rather than how to become free. If I took anything away from this read it is the fact that community is of paramount importance to Sonny Barger. Many of us don't really have community in our work places, residences, churches, etc. But Sonny has lived a life of community and he really knows how difficult it is to build and maintain. Sonny Barger knows the meaning of self sacrifice and he could teach established communities a lesson or two about service to ones fellow man. The writing style is somewhat irksome but at least he doesn't sound like a wannabe writer. Not a bad book, but if you're searching for your freedom, give this one a miss.

If you like reading this sort of thing this was an excellent read. Well worth the price (kindle version) and i will/would read more from this author,

👍🏻

Another book from the original biker.