The Devil Can Ride: The World’s Best Motorcycle Writing edited by Lee Klancher is 28 stories compiled to represent the best of motorcycle journalism. This is a highly entertaining collection of motorcycle stories that is well worth a look. There are some gems here that you might be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
Case in point is a short work by T. E. Lawrence (as in Lawrence of Arabia) writing about his Brough motorcycle from the post-humously published memoir The Mint. “Another bend: and I have the honour of one of England’s straightest and fastest roads. The burble of my exhaust unwound like a long cord behind me. Soon my speed snapped it, and I heard only the cry of the wind which my battering head split and fended aside.” A yee ha, go fast motorcycle story written by the real Lawrence of Arabia.
Also found in the collection is a piece by Hunter S. Thompson for Cycle World called the Song of the Sausage Creature. Hunter cons someone there to send over a brand new Ducati 900SS-SP for him to abuse. Hilarity ensues. ”I was hunched over the tank like a person diving into a pool that got emptied yesterday. Whacko! Bashed on the concrete bottom, flesh ripped off, a Sausage Creature with no teeth, fucked-up for the rest of its life.” Hence the source of the Sausage Creature reference.
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Further on we are treated to author Elena Filatova Riding Through the Dead Zone in the broad wasteland surrounding the Chernobyl reactor disaster. She also provides the illustrations of abandoned buildings in apocalyptic black and white.
Editor Lee Klancher admits he has only delved into the surface of the subject and asks for suggestions for the next compilation of stories for book two of The Devil Can Ride. I’m sure he will get plenty of ideas.The Devil Can RideLee KlancherMotorbooksISBN 978-7603-3477-5$ 26.00 U.S.
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