This is the story of Verna Griffin. A woman who gave birth to five children, losing two in infancy and one to gangland violence. Her surviving son is one of the most famous men in the world, and her daughter is a homemaker with children of her own. From Verna's turbulent childhood to her failed marriages and the problems that came along with Dre's fame, she has grown a thick skin and learned to overcome life's obstacles. As Verna struggled to give her children a safe and happy home amid the gangs and violence that made up South Central Los Angeles, she also searched for a good man to love her. She hit brick walls several times while trying to reach these goals. During Verna's personal struggles she felt lost and desperately fought to find her purpose in the world. With the invaluable support from her tight-knit family and the gradual recognition of her great self-worth, Verna has persevered. This is a tale of a woman who faced constant battles head-on, who learned to transform failure into triumph, and whose inspirational story is one for us all.
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From Publishers Weekly
This memoir from Griffin, whose son became one of the driving forces behind "gangsta" rap, details the life of a single teenage mother in what might as well be the heart of the American poverty crisis, South Central L.A. Griffin gave birth to her first child, Andre, in February 1965, just four months before the Watts riots "changed the world's perception of race relations in America," and her story takes readers on a ground-level tour through a troubling inversion of the modern American dream. Organized more or less chronologically, Griffin has a skill for introducing readers effortlessly into the unfamiliar era of her youth: "Donald had a record player in his car, like most cool guys who had cars." Throughout the story, Griffin's determination, spirituality and creative abilities triumph over the setbacks that poverty constantly throws up. Though there's much grief over constantly changing jobs and apartments, burglaries, drugs, drinking, violence and death-Griffin loses three of her five children-there's also the joy of record collections, occasional vacations and family, and of course the eventual success of Andre's music career. Unconcerned with prescriptive lessons or piercing insight, Griffin's well-crafted memoir is a graceful account of difficult times for a family and a nation.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Publishers Weekly"
"Takes readers on a ground-level tour through a troubling inversion of the modern American dream...Unconcerned with prescriptive lessons or piercing insight, Griffin's well-crafted memoir is a graceful account of difficult times for a family and a nation."
"Takes readers on a ground-level tour through a troubling inversion of the modern American dream...Unconcerned with prescriptive lessons or piercing insight, Griffin's well-crafted memoir is a graceful account of difficult times for a family and a nation."
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