“Pimp” is fantastic. For about a decade now this has been one of my favorite books, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Granted, I should immediately admit that I probably like this book for all the wrong reasons; I’m sure that the ‘correct’ grounds for appreciating “Pimp” (if such sta...
A novel of the clash between Jimmy Collucci, an ambitious member of Chicago's Mafia, and Jessie Taylor, an African American driven by revenge and hatred to destroy Collucci's infamous organization.
I was disappointed by this book, though the second half makes up for a bit of the disappointment. Long White Con marks the second appearance of Iceberg Slim's possibly real acquaintance, Johnny O'Brien AKA White Folks. Folks is an extremely light-skinned black man with blue eyes, the son of a mix...
Iceberg Slim tells the story of a family plagued with so many of the horrors that plague the urban neighborhoods. Poverty, prostitution, violence, murder, drug deals, and grittiness that few are able to explain in a way that others can understand are easily visualized as Iceberg Slim spins this ...
Ice Berg Slim is a true master of the word. His dialogue is dazzling. His cast so real you can almost touch them. "Pimp" is the book to start with, but Trick Baby is just as good and stands alone as a brilliant example of American writing. Trick Baby is a term used for the offspring of a black pr...
When it comes to 'hos' and the men who run them, when it comes to intriguing and super paced rivalry between ambitious pushers and dealers who sell dreams in a blizzard of white powder, when it comes to knowing the streets, it takes a real player and that player is Robert Beck. For more than two...
The moon-drenched branches of a wind-mauled tree outside the bedroom window cavorted spectral shadows about the suite. Raucous March gales screeched off Lake Michigan. I felt a bleak loneliness, a nameless apprehension. I chain-smoked as a blond console in the living room issued Ellas’s new hit w...
Medicine bottles on a nightstand glitter in a spot of early May moonlight like the flash of silicone gems on a headstone.Elder Joe, in his bedroom down the hall, flicks on a nightstand lamp to torture himself with a recent edition of the black Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper. Tears well as he scan...
Finally, driver Eli said, “He ain’t in Hollywood.” Cazo mumbled, “Naw, I guess not. Let’s try the ghetto.” Eli grunted, abruptly pulled the van to the curb, and parked on North Western Avenue. “Say, man, why you stop here?” Cazo exclaimed. Eli said, “ ’Cause you gonna drive some.” He slid from th...
. . ALMOST The southwestern sky was sugary with rock candy stars. The four of them were happy, happy. Life was delicious! White Folks felt the sleek new ’62 Eldorado under his hands cruise smoothly as a spaceship through a galaxy of neon. The four of them were Wade “Speedy” Jackson, ex-crack det...
Mama passed away nearly ten years ago out here in Los Angeles. Oh, Papa, how she suffered before she died, and how wasted and unlike the lovely black maiden who became your bride in the Deep South and fled North sharing with you an impossible dream of everlasting love, bright opportunity and dign...