Trick Baby [Paperback]

Iceberg Slim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2004

This novel charts the rise of White Folks, a white negro who uses his colour as his trump card in the tough game of the con. Blue-eyed, light-haired and white-skinned, White Folks was a successful con man, a hustler in the jungle of Southside Chicago where only the sharpest survived.

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Slim always told it as it was, without compromise.' Irvine Welsh --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert Beck, who used the moniker Iceberg Slim, was a major-league pimp who enjoyed serious success during the 1940s and 1950s. He decided to leave the pimping game after serving his third and final stretch in jail. He moved to Los Angeles where he straightened out and began a career as a writer. Trick Baby, originally published in 1967, is his second book --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Holloway House Publishing Company (November 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870679333
• ISBN-13: 978-0870679339
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trick Baby, January 2, 2001

By 

Gia C. Stith (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trick Baby (Mass Market Paperback)

In this story we get to see Johnny O'Brien grow up to a teen with his black mother named Phala. His father is white and was not around to raise him. Johnny looks white but is raised in a ghetto type neighborhood. When he is a teen his mother is gang raped and put into a mental institute. This is where the story really begins, when Johnny meets a guy street named "Blue" because of his dark skin. He takes Johnny under his wing as a partner in the con game and teaches it to Johnny. Blue street names Johnny "White Folks". Blue's whole life is "Con" and he believes that with a black partner who looks white he will be able to run the con on a larger group of people. Which turns out to be true, I had a good time reading about the different ways that they conned people and all their trials along the way. The book is comical in some parts. Blue really takes on a fatherly role for "White Folks" as his relationship with his lesbian daughter is not as close as he would like. I liked being taken to a whole different world while reading this book. Late 50's early 60's. The way they talked the slang and the price's of things - I really loved this book. White Folks and Blue go through a lot of drama - that they bring on themselves. I do recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading the sequel "Long White Con"

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Iceberg Slim's Trick Baby is worth consideration, October 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Trick Baby (Mass Market Paperback)

Telling the life story of White Folks, a black con-artist whose pale skin allows him to pass himself off as a white man, this book is not quite up to the standard of Iceberg's first book 'Pimp'. The book recounts White Folks' tragic early life, rejected by children his own age as being a 'Trick Baby', the illegitimate offspring conceived between a hooker and her trick. The main thrust of the story is the play off between White Folks and his older, blacker mentor who teaches him the con game. As with all his books, Iceberg writes in the style and language of the life he actually lead. There is nothing false or trite about this book. The reader gets a true insite into a world that most of us will never have to experience. Its a true cult classic. Often tragically funny, this is one not to be missed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent read, August 13, 2005

By 

S. Stevens "college student" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trick Baby (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved reading Trick Baby. I read it within 24 hours, so whoever said it is slow I would have to disagree with. But let me warn you, it was a very, very depressing story. Do not buy this book unless you are prepared to have your heart ripped out! I won't give you a plot summary, but this is a story that deals with issues of love, lonliness and deciet. There are two types of people in the world: those who con and those who get conned. Overall, the book is bleak (antithesis of heart-warming) but very enlightening and entertaining. I would profoundly affected. Highly recommended.