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Pimp: The Story of My Life Audiobook
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(3.03) - 1,487 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A blueprint. A bible. What Sun Tzu’s Art of War was to ancient China, Pimp is to the streets. As real as you can get without jumping in, this is the story of Iceberg Slim’s life as he saw, felt, tasted, and smelled it. It is a trip through hell by the one man who lived to tell the tale—the dangers of jail, addiction, and death that are still all too familiar for today’s black community. By telling the story of one man’s struggles and triumphs in an underground world, Pimp shows us the game doesn’t change; it just has a different swagger.
Only Slim could tell this story and make the reader feel it. If you thought Hustle & Flow was the true pimp story, this book is where it all began. This is the heyday of the pimp, the hard-won pride and glory, small though it may be; the beginnings of pimp before it was dragged in front of the camera, before pimp juice and pimp style. Though it is a tale of his times, it will remain current and true for as long as there is a race bias, as long as there is a street life, as long as there is exploitation.
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"I had never heard of this book until I went to see Dave Chappelle at The Punchline in San Francisco. Dave talked about this book in the context of his break from the Comedy Central network and subsequent journey to South Africa. I'm not sure I understood the connection entirely, but I'm glad I was curious enough to read this book. Iceberg offers an uncompromising look at how a person gets involved in the pimp lifestyle and learns to exert control over other human beings. In the vein of Malcolm X, Iceberg finds some redemption later on in life, but the physical and emotional wounds left behind from his years as a pimp never healed. Also interesting is an entire "pimp vocabulary" included to help you dissect some of the dialogue. I highly recommend the book."
— Jeff (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“The best-known pimp of our time.”
— Washington Post -
“Pimp is an eye-boggling netherworld documentary, a tear-arse tale of ferocious emotion, expressed through action.”
— Q -
“One of the greatest black writers in American history.”
— Ice-T -
“Iceberg Slim was the godfather of a genre.”
— K’wan, #1 Essence bestselling author
Awards
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A BookRiot Pick of Top Books about Gangsters
Pimp Listener Reviews
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" Pimp by iceberg slim is offensive, crude, violent, disturbing, and one of the greatest books of all time. Iceberg slim is such a fantastic author he manages to make the pimp game sound Shakespearean. The reader of the audio book also deserves praise as his voice drags you into the slums right along with iceberg and sounds like one cool cat. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. "
— Calvin, 10/25/2018 -
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Fabio Dugaich, 6/4/2016
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" absolutely perfect. an education. "
— Melinda, 2/20/2014 -
" Brilliant. Once you get past the vernacular of the time, it's an unprecedented window into a world long gone. "
— G.N., 2/19/2014 -
" well, goddamn!! "
— Amanda, 2/18/2014 -
" Dense and direct, worthy of reading again. Iceberg has done a lot with his life, lots of lessons to be learned by reading through his anecdotes and insights. "
— Marcus, 2/17/2014 -
" It was very raw and honest. Which is what I really liked about it. He was not apologizing for who he was or what he did. He just told it like it was. Very interesting.... "
— Emily, 2/15/2014 -
" Well that was depressing. "
— Geoff, 2/11/2014 -
" Excellent book. A must read. "
— Gabriel, 2/8/2014 -
" The glossery alone is worth the price of this paperback-it is a treasure trove of street lingo like it doesn't come anymore. "
— John, 1/27/2014 -
" it really put me in the scene of the book and iceberg slim being a former pimp himself gives this book a lot of credibility - as a reader it placed me in a world I knew nothing about, but that exist - extremely interesting and a fast read - pretty graphic - Deb wouldn't like it "
— Lee, 1/16/2014 -
" If my head were used as a masturbatory device I too would have a stable and one hell of a bottom girl. "
— Eric, 1/15/2014 -
" A pimp's story as told by......a pimp. "
— Craig, 12/20/2013 -
" When you're reading this book it's like that you're living the story... that you know every caracters...The sensation, the music, the atmosphere... Everything everything !!! "
— Myr, 12/19/2013 -
" Got it!! its hella good "
— Christine, 12/19/2013 -
" One of those rare novels I find about once a year, at my age. "
— Miles, 11/29/2013 -
" Iceberg Slim is the king of the metaphor as well as king of the Pimps. "
— Rich, 11/25/2013 -
" Not justifying the lifestyle, but this book gives a great insight to human psychology. "
— Randall, 8/26/2013 -
" It's difficult to get into, rather inaccessible at times. But there are rare valuable insights tucked away it its pages. It did make me work extraordinarily hard to reach them. Not going through the final Glossary chapter before I started the book was a mistake. "
— Niloy, 7/13/2013 -
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dustin hernandez, 6/14/2013
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" useful resource were you to need some great new things to say to scare the hell out of someone. "
— Rina, 4/25/2013 -
" What can I say? This is a masterpiece of self loathing, confessions of deeds and redemption. I loved it. Robert Beck is a genius in his writing style. No other urban noir writer has what he has--experience and raw talent in story telling "
— Doris, 3/2/2013 -
" You know it's hard out here for a pimp. "
— Johnny, 12/20/2012 -
" I love his bookd "
— Reney jones, 11/18/2012 -
" A raw and unbridled look into the life and role of a pimp. "
— Chris, 11/6/2012 -
" i only gave this book a 9 when i first read it but it only grows in stature as i continue to think about it. "
— RK, 10/25/2012 -
" Provocative,disturbing,graphic and blunt. Iceberg Slim holds back nothing when he tells the story of his life as a Pimp.It is also a journey of redemption. "
— Roslyn, 7/10/2012 -
" One of those books you just can't put down. Slim is such a naturally gifted writer that it's almost hard to believe it. While it's probably hyperbolic as all hell, it'll entertain you every which way nonetheless. Pimp hard, young blood. Pimp hard. "
— Kit, 6/9/2012 -
" well now you know my nome de plume... "
— David, 4/21/2012 -
" Grim portrait of a hustler's life. Does not glamorize the pimp game. The book is not for everyone. The content is often violent and sexually explicit. There are flickers of humor, but this is not a "happy" book. Glossary in the back is very funny. "
— Omar, 3/5/2012 -
" Just read this on holiday in a day - pimptastic "
— Colin, 5/27/2011
About Iceberg Slim
Iceberg Slim (1918–1992), a.k.a. Robert Beck, was born in Chicago and initiated into the life of the pimp at age eighteen. He briefly attended the Tuskegee Institute but dropped out to return to the streets of the South Side, where he remained, pimping, until he was forty-two. After several stints in jail, culminating in a ten-month stay in Cook County, he decided to give up the life and turned to writing. With a family to feed, he folded his life into the pages of Pimp, which emerged as a definitive chronicle of street life. Slim was catapulted into the public eye as a new American hero, known for speaking the truth whether that truth was ugly, sexy, rude, or blunt. He published six more books based on his life and different aspects of the ghetto black, pimp community. Slim died at age seventy-three in 1992, one day before the Los Angeles riots.
About Cary Hite
Cary Hite has performed in several theaters across the country as a cast member in the longest-running African American play in history, The Diary of Black Men. He also appeared in Edward II, Fences, Macbeth, Good Boys, Side Effects May Vary, and the indie feature The City Is Mine. He has voiced several projects for AudibleKids, including Souls Look Back in Wonder, From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, and Papa, Do You Love Me?