Customer Reviews

Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Ken Ivy's, "Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game," is a street psychology book best read by individuals who might be described as "Squares." Ivy demarcates between the value system of the "streets" versus that of mainstream America. He initially talks about the methodology of pimping (procuring women who are willing to pay for protection as she makes money selling sex), but transcends the term as a means of gaining money and power within any context. Shakespeare's dictum, "All the world's a stage...and we're mere players" serves as a caveat to "Pimpology..."in which we are playing the "money and power" game in one form or another. To be a pimp within this context is to rule and control one's destiny by never allowing other people's agenda to supersede yours.

Interestingly, the book went from " The Life and Times of a Pimp" to a business book on how to conduct yourself on the world stage. I'm sure Ivy would say this was his intention all along, but the allegory went from literal to metaphorical as an instructional guide to getting the desirable things in life.

The overall shortcoming was the chronological lingo. The conversations between characters seemed corny and outdated by contemporary standards. If he's deferring totally to the 1970's, the dialogue fits for those who lived during that era. The language comes off sappy and unrealistic at times. A better story and language can be found in Nicky Barnes', "Mr. Untouchable."

Overall, I recommend this book, because it expands one's understanding of human nature. There are principles available for people who might wonder why nice guys often finish last. Invariably, there is some heart and soul as well as logic in the bowels of our society.

Edward Brown
Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute

this book is kind of comical and if you have ever heard a pimp talk, you'll know why. the exploits of an uneducated misogynist who brags that he taught himself to 'never love' just left me cold. pimpin' ken wanted to be like his dad, another uneducated pimp and hustler. it's sad that ken has 5 sons. the good news is that the book is very slender, so it is a fast read, if you can stay interested. i needed to read it for research and it served its purpose.

After reading PIMPOLOGY, I would place it in the same category as Niccolo Machiavelli's THE PRINCE. Like he states in the book, he is NOT promoting the trafficking of flesh. However, he does give a lesson about human nature. When I read it, there were experiences he's had that I witnessed from my college coaches, former bosses and other characters in business. Just because his background deals with pimping at a street level, I'll go to what he states in the last chapter. He states that the oldest pimp game on Earth is the same as what builds nations: the control of money and people to achieve an objective or series of objectives.

It's really a book about power and how it's used as a means to an end. Besides, it may help the reader recognize when a "pimp" game is being run on them and devise a counterattack to the game.

This book has all of the elements that make a great book. Its rare that Ive read a book in its entirety in the same day. The author has a way of bringing certain events to life to keep the reader interested. I like the fact that the 48 laws can be applied to ones daily life as well as business endeavors. And, surprisingly, I found this book to be just as inspirational as some of Donald Trumps books. Its great reading for adults of any age and from all walks of life. 5 stars.

Great book. Pimpolgy 101, does not promote pimping, just the pimp Mentality. It gives readers rules, and then accounts of those rules that Pimp Ken has gone though in his life, and the lessons learn. It is a great book on how to seize the moment in life, and become a "Go Getta." Only con i have is it is a quick read, But every interesting. i read the whole book in about two days. I recommend any business minded person to pick up this book.

This fun and quick read essentially lays out the philosophy of african-american street/ghetto culture. Its a dog eat dog (or dog shoot dog in the back of the head when he isn't looking) world where once must use people to survive or risk being eaten alive. In many ways, the principles of the book symbolize the desperation of ghetto living, where the only code of conduct is survival of the fittest and honor, trust, integrity, love are pretty much unheard of. Image and "respect" are prized over anything that could be remotely called substance. The 48 rules are about how to manipulate and use people for your own ends with the implicit assumption being that if you don't, someone is going to do this to you. In many ways, its a sad description of the desperate and tragic animal-like conditions of the intercity, where people clearly are living not much differently than pack animals. And in fact, in many ways, pack animals treat themselves/each other better.

What is truly interesting, however, is how frequently these principles are employed by successful wall street types and politicians. The book is a handbook on how to "win" with zero integrity and it highlights how this ethos is prevalent in the broader american culture as well.

Regardless of your personal opinion of the author's moral character, there are some useful principles in the book that might be helpful to quite a few people in terms of getting ahead in life.

This book has alot of game in it. Not just for pimping, but also for everyday life. That was one of the things I apprecaited about the book; The laws begin in pimpish examples ,but ends in real world examples. Every law in the book is as relevant as anything in Think grow rich, The 7 habits, Law of success and the alike. Don't buy this book. Be "pimpish about it - have someone buy it for you!

This book shows how the pimp game is a metaphor for life. Either you're giving orders or you're taking them. Good book.

It's not a stand-alone guide to the art of delaing with women and the same points are repeated. But still a good read and Ken puts down some game for real. Unfortunatley of course we have the inevitible bragging that perhaps is essential to the ego of a pimp. But this dilutes the advice.

But some good points are made and they can be applied to all aspects of your life. I had previously bought Ken's own DVD from his website and was severley dissapointed as it was just lame self promotion junk and no game whatsoever. In this book Ken comes with some goods. A good - but not great - addition to American Pimp n Pimps Up Hoes Down for the collection.

The all time bibles on the topic to my mind are Pimp: The Story of My Life and Iceberg Slim: The Lost Interviews with the Pimp and Paradise's modern guide to pimp principle relationships Space Age Pimping.

I have seen pimpin ken on tv and ddecided to see what his book was all about. After recieving the book I started reading it and was hooked..I read and re-read the book and really grapsed all the information. Do not let the book title fool you, this is more a motivational and information based book on how to better yourself. Great book and I would highly recommend it.