Customer Reviews

Pimp: The Story of My Life

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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

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.

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.

I've got two completely different opinions about _Pimp_ and Robert Beck himself. One is glowing, the other terrible. Maybe that's what makes Beck and his books so interesting. First, the glowing opinion. Beck's style is like nothing I've ever read before. He claims to have a 175 I.Q. I don't doubt it. No one less brilliant could conjure up the metaphors and images he casually slings as if they were off the top of his head. The book is written in a loose, story-telling style, as if it was never revised, typos and all. Beck makes you feel as if you were standing on a street corner listening to a "fast track pimp" weave his life's yarn. Many times, I would read a sentence several times simply to admire the unique vision Beck gave to an action as simple as getting in or out of a car (a "hog") or thinking about his mother. The terminology is another, brilliantly colorful language (complete with glossary in the back!).Although the story dotes on his early years and then cruises through a couple of decades in a matter of pages, Beck's tale was never slow or anything less than gleaming. That is the glowing opinion. Now the terrible one. I'll try not to seem sanctimonious. To me, Robert Beck is (was) an alarmingly vicious hypocrite and psychopathic criminal. The book begins and ends with his tepid claims that he has seen the error of his ways and regrets his former life. These meager claims are ridiculous when you read the pride, nostalgia, and admiration with which Beck recounts his former life. In one passage in particular, his role model and mentor teaches him an unbelievable method to keep his whores in line. Whip them bloody with a wire coathanger. Beck eagerly tests the method. You can sense the satisfaction with which he regards the successful results. Beck tells us about breaking women's jaws and pummelling them senseless in the same manner he might use to recount old football victories. This is not a repentant ex-pimp. This is a retired pimp who is smart enough to realize that if he pays lipservice to reform and enlightenment, he will sell his books to a much larger audience. He certainly did make a nice pile of "scratch" off the stories he wrote glorifying his former lifestyle ("Long White Con" is the other Beck book I've read-- much more mediocre in style and plot). In the end, I recommend _Pimp_ as a refreshingly unique voice in modern literature. I certainly don't admire Beck's life, nor endorse the lifestyle (as so many other reviewers alarmingly seem to!).

In "PIMP: The Story of My Life", Robert Beck (street-named Iceberg Slim) describes a Midwestern pimp's life during the 1940's and 1950's. "PIMP..." includes excellent dialogue combined with a vivid description of prostitution.

Mr. Beck outlines the methods pimps use to control the whores in their "families": drugs; and promises of physical protection, bail money, and comfortable retirement. Mr. Beck describes another way pimps control whores: physical and mental abuse. The author repeatedly describes kickings and beatings. Mr. Beck describes one method of driving worn-out whores from the family: on pp. 158-159 he describes a pimp stressing and drugging a whore into a nervous breakdown.

Mr. Beck writes that a pimp's life is not without difficulties. A pimp must maintain a glamorous and strong image while dealing with unmotivated whores, competing pimps, thieves, and both corrupt and honest police officers. A pimp also must deal with jail and aging.

Mr. Beck shows simultaneously the affluence, the harshness, and the brutality of prostitution.

Slim's books could not have been written by anyone else. the genius of them derives from two things, slim's own lengthy and painfull experiance of the ills and games of the ghetto in his era and the poetry and downtrodden virtue of his sole. this is the story of his life and its a story worth telling, many have lived longer and not gone through half as much, the story weaves from an abuzed childhood through life as mean young adolescant and into his early days as an ambitious young pimp keen to hit the "fast track" in Chicago. from here on in it's a tale of abuse, drugs, degradation and manipulation as well as in it's own strange way love. However the story is only half the book and it's through the poetic telling of that story that we really get to meet the engrossing character,enigma and genius of iceberg slim. Slim remoulds street slang and lingo into a rich and textured prose which stands comparison with the very greatest writers, it's a pleasure to read (if a little hard to understand at first), it's also very cool and any young man who reads this book will find slim's slang slipping into his speech in no time. This story is engrossing from start to finish, Slim makes it out of the game in the end and became a writer - be thankfull.

Pimp is a unique look into a dark world that not many people get to see and much less relate to. Robert Beck takes the reader on a journey to witness his captivating transgression from an abused and emotionally scarred child into a misogynistic money hungry beast.

Poverty, prison, a missing role model, and the general feeling of hopelessness commonplace in the ghetto made Beck a product of his environment. One which surrounded him by nefarious individuals who also contributed in molding this young man into the now infamous, Iceberg Slim. These factors result into a sad and disturbing premise for Beck's story. Although I must say that once you read it for yourself, you will no longer be surprised that he ended up the way he did. What will surprise you was the way he somehow managed to muster the strength to rise above this squalid lifestyle.

Beck has a knack for graphic detail and uses ample doses of it throughout. He is apparently a brutally honest person who was no objections telling you about the pimp game from his uncensored perspective. Not necessarily to glamorize this sort of life; he just refuses to pull punches. And personally, I can appreciate this sort of 'realness.'

The dialogue and descriptions are peppered with pimp slang that sometimes is confusing and gives the impression that he is writing in a different language. Thankfully, Beck includes a glossary (which is quite amusing in itself) for some of these more obscure terms. But this did very little to detract from the message Beck was conveying. Overall I enjoyed this book thoroughly and would recommend it to nearly anybody.

Too often these days we hear all these people goin around callin themselves pimps, and hoes and say they pimpin it!! How would I ever know that real pimpin took place almost 50 yrs ago. Iceberg Slim delivered his most heartfelt novel. Even more Heartfelt than his "Naked Soul" because these are real experiences, real people, and real pimping. It starts off with him as a child and his loving mother. His father treated him like crap, so they left, him and his mother met a man that would soon become Iceberg's role-model, Henry. But later his mother tricked Henry and she and Iceberg meet his dead beat dad Steve in Minneapolis. From there Robert (Iceberg) gets in a lot of trouble. His first taste of the street. Throughout the book Rob is in contact with characters that sometimes overshadow him. His mother, father Steve, stepfather Henry, 1st botton-whore Phyllis (the runt), Sweet-Top, Party-Time, Flat-Top, Chris, Rachel, and Leroy. The book shows his rise from a pimp dream to a pimp fantasy to a pimp hell! One of the hardest parts for me in the book was understanding the slang, this is slang used during the 1930's 40's and 50's! I found myself flipping back and forth between the glossary. Phyllis was his first cop and probably the most explored character in the book besides Iceberg himself. Even though she later bailed on him she was his first true ride or die chick. Chris (whom he had stolen from a crazed-Leroy who he later met in jail at the end of the book) was the only one to stand by his side when his stable was falling apart while he was in jail. Rachel was also the only one on his side while he was in jail his final time for breaking out of jail. Flat Top and Party Time introduced him to the Chicago pimping game. Although they later on destroyed their lives through pimping they opened the door for Iceberg. Sweet probably the most powerful character in the book was just so powerful and strong that I could just envision his live pad and his lavish dwellings. But as always the stress of the street was just too much and he ended up shooting himself in the head. Only for short periods of time was Iceberg on top of his game, he was trading his old hog for a new hog every year and was pickin up the scratch night after night from his stable (see that pimp vocab is with me now.) and for a short time after he broke out of jail he was the pimp's pimp! But besides that he was pullin somebody's mind or travelin from city to city to get some yellow or H (u gotta read this book to kno what I am talkin about :)) It's just a shame that he had to visit jail multiple times, pimp, beat, and brutalize many woman, and see his mother pass away before he could realize the wrongdoings of his life over the past 20 yrs. I think him sitting in the confined cell over those past 10 mos were a real wake up signal to him, Iceberg Slim. I did not read this book to become a pimp by any means. I read this book because Robert Beck is a celebrated black author of classic ghetto stories not to entertain but to intimidate. Robert Beck knows the pimp game, he knows what its all about, but he also knows the stress, the pain, the heartache, and the paranoia that comes along with it. And he knows that he never wants to see any brother or sister have to go thru it. So while his stories may be heart-wrenching, captivating, and entertaining remember that his stories are warnings and testaments of a life that is cold and always leads to a life full of drugs, sex, death, and sadness. Robert Beck is a ghetto lyrical genius that reminds US that our lives don't have to end or begin like this, get your education and have respect for yourself. No amount of money is worth the hell he put himself through. Listen....read......remember....Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck is the real truth!!!

"Pimp" is a dark, ugly book. It's author Robert Beck, aka Iceberg Slim spent much of his life as a pimp. It's written to leave a bad taste in your mouth. That is the intent of the author. This is a chronicle of how he wasted twenty-five years of his life.

Maya Angelou's brother told her a pimp is one of two kinds of men. Either he hates women or he fears women. The process of encouraging, enforcing a woman to sell her body is neither sexy or romantic. The life of a hooker, especially one working the streets is harsh and degrading. A `good' pimp only cares about using his women until they have no more left to give. Only someone who hates or feels the need to control women would make a `good' pimp.

Iceberg Slim hated women.

His father deserted them while he was a baby. Bobby and his mother lead a hand-to-mouth existence for his early years. Early on he is sexually abused by his babysitter. Stability came into his life when his mother marries an older man who was a successful businessman. Young Bobby loved his stepfather. They lead a comfortable upper middle-class existence until his mother runs off with another man.

The image of his stepfather crying in the street begging his mother to stay is repeated throughout the book. He took his hatred of his mother out on women - as a pimp.

Of course things go down hill for his mother. Eventually she gets her act together. But even though stability is restored in his life, Robert wants to be a pimp. Possessing a superior I.Q. (175), he was a straight-A student. In a time of blatant racial discrimination (the 1920s, 30s, 40s) he is given a college scholarship. But his path is set, the seeds of hatred planted years before take root and flourish.

For more details about his descent into depravity and his redemption - read the book.

His writing style is not polished. His language is not refined. But his imagery is stunning. He induces mood and feeling brilliantly. Mood and feeling are enhanced by his lack of polish.

The reader may have trouble with his slang. It's been out of style for 80 years. For example, "vines" means clothes. A woman "georgias" a man when she uses him for sexual gratification without paying. A "square" is a cigarette, etc.

I have noticed a disturbing trend. The black pimp is a role-model for some segments of society. Performers such as Ice-T extol the pimp lifestyle. Iceberg Slim is 'the man'. Whenever this book is discussed as a movie project, the gangsta rappers start lobbying for the part. These guys want to be like him. But not the man he became but the man he was - a depraved parasite. Some of them talk about this book as though it's the Bible.

While this is an excellent book, it is ugly. Richard Beck wanted it that way. He wanted to send a message against pimping and it's lifestyle.

Sometimes I wonder if these pimp wannbes can read.

This is the 'realest' book you will ever read. Of course its attitude toward women is ridiculous, of course its attitude that the only way African Americans could get power in the fifties/sixties (to pimp) strikes us as anachronistic. That aside, you just about feel you are PIMP as you hustle the streets, take care of your stable, delude yourself that you're living the dream life. The writing style is original, compelling, so involving you can smell the sweat, you are there in the dingy rooms, watching the transactions, you are voyeur, you are involved in the sex stuff, all the time you can't tear your eyes away from the horror and beauty of Pimp's life.