Pimp: The Story of My Life [Paperback]

Iceberg Slim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002

Iceberg Slim the pimp (aka Robert Beck the writer) tells the true story of his life in the underworld during the thirties and forties, a life of petty triumphs and real fears in the mean streets of Chicago.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

''Iceberg Slim was the godfather of a genre.'' -- K'wan, #1 Essence bestselling author

''One of the greatest black writers in American history.'' --Ice-T

''Pimp is an eye-boggling netherworld documentary, a (--) tale of ferocious emotion, expressed through action.'' -- Q

''The best-known pimp of our time.'' --Washington Post --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Payback Pr (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0862415934
• ISBN-13: 978-0862415938
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,154,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

270 of 289 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be fools, brothers..., November 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pimp: The Story of My Life (Paperback)

I think this Iceberg Slim's writing debut alongside with his "Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim" are monument classics to the extreme. Iceberg Slim, all BS aside tells the bitter truth about the pimp life during the 40's and 50's in the Black concrete reservation called Harlem. It shows the candid realities of the ghetto life and about the struggles of a man, frustrated with the setbacks and oppressions of a prodominately white society and despairingly turns to pimping and drug pushing as a way out. Now, I must further comment to some of the youngbloods out there that read Iceberg is dead in his grave, but if he were alive today, and read some of the entries here, he would not be flattered but pissed, to put it bluntly. When 'Berg meant for people (particularly young African-American males to read "Pimp", he intended to give you insight on the pimp game in order for you to see just what a hellish life he really lead as a pimp. It was not meant as a rule book, but a discouragement from the game.Oh, sure, there was the easy money, the power over women, and the false sense of respect as you ride down the street in that Cadillac. But what about the other dangers, like having to look over your shoulders for the police, f--king up your mind with that powder (although today we have crack, even worse). And the women, when they get older and more resentful, they'll cross you and set you up one day, so you have to constantly make sure that they stay mostly ignorant of your weaknesses as not just a player, but a man. If Ice were alive, he would tell you that the pimp life ain't so f--king glamourous, but it's hell, that's why he later settled down with his wife and kid and turned straight. So, brothers, as a former player myself, I'm telling you, don't diss your sisters, talking about pimping, because it's not a beautiful lifestyle. You want money, you want girls to dig you? Get an education, Get a f--king job, save some money and get some f--cking business. Because I tell you bro's you might say it's the "White Man's Fault" we're in the shape were in, but in truth, we've got nobody to blame but our own nappy head selves. Yeah, we were bad, cool, and slick back then, but in reality, we were stupid as hell. We were only to steps from the County Jail and that's where you'll end up if you don't check your mind. Stay your a--es in school, and keep your f--king a--es out of jail. Or else, just be another profit to the man. That's what I have to say and I know Ice would agree. Peace! END

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vivid cautionary tale, March 24, 2000

By 

"vagrant-lbc" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pimp (Mass Market Paperback)

If Mark Twain were a Black street pimp, he would have been Iceberg Slim. Pimp is one of the most captivating books I have ever read. Slim effectively uses his eye for detail and dry humor to bring the hard streets of the Chicago's South Side to life. The characters are well constructed, and the author's protrayal of himself is colorful and honest. Slim does not look for the reader to forgive him for his actions, nor does he try to justify his past deeds with rationalizing rhetoric. Instead, he just tells it like it was, using street slang that can be hard to follow at times, documenting his rise and fall, and how the latter brought him around to "square" life. This book is a true masterpiece of American literature.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there..., February 9, 2005

By 

J. Bosiljevac (san fran, ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pimp: The Story of My Life (Paperback)

This is the autobiography of a pimp. There's nothing apologetic in it. The author regrets the line of work he chose, but you never get the impression that he's overplaying or underplaying any story in this book. It doesn't judge. It doesn't glamorize. It is nothing but honest. You get the impression that he's is telling this to you, or wrote it as it came to him and never went back to edit. Even the typos and misspellings added to the authenticity.

As a look into an unknown world, this book is fascinating. As a piece of writing, it certainly expanded my vocabulary. There's a glossary in the back for all the slang, but I found that I didn't even know a lot of the words that weren't included in the glossary, presumably because their meaning is well-known. And for all the sex and brutality in the book, the writing is well-crafted-you know enough, but it's never graphic for the sake of it.

The story itself is basically the life of this pimp, nicknamed Iceberg Slim. He tells you upfront that he was very lucky he didn't end up dead or in jail, as most people of his profession do. The story follows him from a young naïve kid to a wise old pimp at the top of his game. The book was written in the late 60s, but the story runs mostly from the '30s-'50s. From different cities to different jails, from whore to whore, the entire book oozes seediness and grit. It makes very clear that there is nothing glamorous in the life of a pimp.