by Sanyika Shakur
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Product Description
Written in solitary confinement, Kody Scott's memoir of sixteen years as a gangbanger in Los Angeles was a searing bestseller and became a classic, published in ten languages, with more than 300,000 copies in print in the United States alone. After pumping eight blasts from a sawed-off shotgun at a group of rival gang members, twelve-year-old Kody Scott was initiated into the L.A. gang the Crips. He quickly matured into one of the most formidable Crip combat soldiers, earning the name "Monster" for committing acts of brutality and violence that repulsed even his fellow gang members. When the inevitable jail term confined him to a maximum-security cell, a complete political and personal transformation followed: from Monster to Sanyika Shakur, black nationalist, member of the New Afrikan Independence Movement, and crusader against the causes of gangsterism. In a document that has been compared to The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice, Shakur makes palpable the despair and decay of America's inner cities and gives eloquent voice to one aspect of the black ghetto experience today.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 HIgh Content Motivating Reading., 2008-09-17
Even though Cody Scott pats himself on the back a lot, and it's obvious he is not finished with his foolish ways, I found the book useful in one way. I had a student I had known off and on since he was 5. He was bright and lively, and could not learn to read. He could make neither the visual or auditory connections with print . He couldn't remember what we went over with him . When you have both a lack of visual and auditory memory, it's not likely you are going to ever succeed at reading. It was unlikely my student, Alex, would ever be able to read. I received permission to use this in his case high interest book with this student. It was a last ditch effort. Alone with him in my office i would read a vignette, and just at the exciting part, I would refuse to read another word. But I would help him decode what was there. It was a struggle, but Alex did in fact succeed in learning to sound out, figure out, and remember what he read. So for that I am grateful to the author.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Dreary: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, 2008-09-04
Monster Kody Scott has been in one of the most ruthless gangs since age 11. He was drawn by the fame and respect that gang members in his 'hood received. Everything he did since age 11 was done to gain a reputation for his name and his set.
When I purchased this book I was very excited to get an inside look at the life of a gang member from one of the toughest streets in America, South Central L.A. I have always been interest in gang activity and thought this would be a great read on that fact alone.
For the most part the book was able to enlighten me on gang life, however, it wasn't able place me there, so to speak. The book was very very very dull and dry. There was no talk of emotion, from his first kill to his last. There was no talk about how stealing his first car made him feel, whether it be good, or bad, powerful, or paranoid I don't care which it was, but make it interest for the readers!!! I guess the hard streets have left Monster emotionally empty. Everything is stated very matter-of-fact manner, with minimal descriptions of events to make them coherent.
As I said before, this made for an extremely boring read. After reading about his 100th raid, I found I could care less, they were practically all the same. This book has no depth and at the end it felt like a homework assignment, forcing myself to finish it. Which is a shame because given his status in the Crips, Monster Kody Scott, could have given one of the best if not the best accounts of gang-life in America.
Over all I rate it 3/5. I know really only focused on the negatives of the book, but there are also good qualities. It is pretty rare that we get an autobiography written by a gang member, especially an O.G. It did add a level of authenticity that a D.A. or police officer would not be able to provide. All said and done, I would not recommend this book to a friend.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Eye-Opening Book About The Real Gang Life , 2008-08-07
I've read this book several times over the years. Author Sanyika Shakur offers a sobering and disturbing look into the other side of Los Angeles.
For anyone seeking understanding into what turns a young man into a hard-core gangster, this book is invaluable reading. The book is unapologetically violent and includes some graphic descriptions of an inmate-on-inmate assault inside the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Alot more people neeed to read this book, 2008-05-10
Love this book but this book left me wanting more like what happened after he left prison in 91.I learned alot from this book things i didn't know;very good book.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Chase von's review of Monster...., 2008-03-22
There are so many things that can be said about this book, because it makes you think on so many different levels. It's brutally honest, and no holds barred, violent and as ruthless as things can get but... Then there is more... And I to date haven't read a book to surpass this in actually putting one "There" in the life of a Gang Banger. It made me think about the loss of innocence, it also made me think about what would have happened if this same man had of been raised else where in a different environment? I'll leave that one to the philosophers and all but the conclusion I came up with is he would have survived no matter where he was planted. When I first read Eldridge Cleavers "Soul On Ice" I was shocked at the intelligence pouring from the pages. I had the same feeling reading "Monster" by Sanyika Shakur. Highly intelligent! This book reads like a birds eye view of his life! It even inspired me to write on the subject so I give credit where credit is due. If you want to know what is really happening in the streets and neighborhoods of America then read this book!!!!
Raw? Without a doubt, but as shocking as all it is, there is also compassion revealed and revelations and for the man to live to write about it is a miracle to begin with.
I think this book deserves far more than what Amazon has in levels to rate.
To understand the real picture you have to see the underside...
And this book reveals it as few have and is an important part of American Literature and a testimony of how it really is with no holds barred!
And in addition to all the other things this man has been, one that he has certainly proven himself to be, without a doubt is an exceptional author and one who knows how to truly write something you won't have to worry about forgetting...
Because you won't...
Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak
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