Book review: SLIM – An Australian Biker’s Tale Of Sex, Drugs, Cops & Violence by Slim Spires

Shane | 3 September 2012 | 1 Reply

SLIM – An Australian Biker’s Tale Of Sex, Drugs, Cops & Violence
Slim Spires
Allen & Unwin, 26 March 2012, rrp $27.99
7/10

By Shane Pinnegar

Slim Spires is a character – and a dangerous one at that. In this memoir he regales readers with takes of his life led less ordinary – as a member of biker gangs, clashing with the police, doing time in jail, indulging in the pleasures of the flesh and – above all – dispensing brutal street justice to those that cross him or those he is loyal to.

Spires is a brawler, a scarily violent man – one you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, much less invite around your house for fear of accidentally saying the wrong thing and ending up on the receiving end of his well honed fists and boots.

Some of these tales are humorous – a couple are actually hilarious – and some remind the reader of the discrimination dished out by the establishment to outsiders. Where the book falls down is in some of the violent stories tending to be a little too self-congratulatory at the expense of morality, and some sacrificing his natural storyteller’s ability in the search for a neat punchline.

But throughout the book one other thing is absolutely clear – Spires is a man who has lived his whole life by a code of honour – it may not be aligned with societal norms, and you, like me, might find him thuggish and dangerously scary at times – but you will not be able to deny him respect for his honour, nor his ability as a raconteur.