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New English Library, London, 1975
dedication:
To She Who Types Like a Drunken Midget Playing The Piano
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New English Library, London, 1975
dedication:
To Lord Grandrith And The Apes of Wrath
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The blurbs on the back: THE BIKERS: THE DEVIL'S RIDER: The Bikers starts with the Shoreditch Chapter roaring through at the Hangar Lane underpass in West London - from there on, you know where you are. Essentially it's a rip-off of the US Hell's Angels novel relocated to Britain with the consequent loss of conviction: American Angels did at least sometimes look and behave like outlaws, the English incarnation never quite managed it. The story - such as it is - concerns Larry the Lamb and Little Billy, the two leaders of the chapter, though Little Billy relocated to California some time before the novel begins. You won't be surprised when he makes his return. In fact you won't be surprised by anything, though there is a nice touch with a rock band who play 'low dirty heavy greasy bike music' and are named Siddhartha. Geddit? Well, let me explain: the ultimate bikers' anthem is 'Born To Be Wild' by Steppenwolf, who were named after a novel by Herman Hesse. One of Hesse's other novels is Siddhartha. Geddit? (Mind you, it might have been more impressive still if Stuart had used the title of another Hesse novel, The Prodigy.) A couple of years later, The Devil's Rider was more of the same, and - although I haven't read them - I'm sure that The Outlaws and The Last Trip were not wildly dissimilar. Good for posing perhaps, but that's about as far as they go. Incidentally, The Bikers was credited to Alex Stuart - the middle initial came later. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 2/5 HIPNESS QUOTIENT: 4/5
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