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The Inspiration Behind Jeff Nichols’ ‘The Bikeriders,’ Explained With Danny Lyon’s Book


The Bikeriders, has some true elements to it based on Danny Lyon's book.

Butler stars in the film as Benny, a man who loves motorcycles and finds himself drawn to the Chicago Vandals, a club of bikers that frequently gathers to drive around and be in community. Cockroach (Emory Cohen) talked at length about eating bugs in the film, but this seems to stem from an anecdote of Funny Sonny’s (Norman Reedus) about swallowing a caterpillar, pointed out by Esquire. Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest resulted from a similar journalistic curiosity, and Hunter S. Thompson wrote Hell’s Angels(1967) about the California-based biker club.

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