Skid Row Beat (Paperback)

by Loren W. Christensen (Author), Loren Christensen (Author) "One, it helps sell books (bet you opened the book here first, right?)..." (more)
Key Phrases: Big Jack, Ernie Bigbear, John Lee (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"When I first came on the Portland PD," says Officer Loren Christensen, "skid row was a Wild West show nearly as insane as Saigon, where I had just spent a year. Its wine-soaked streets were teeming with drunks, dopers, jackrollers, pimps, crazies, fighters and killers, all crammed into a filthy 12-square-block area where violence was an hourly event and death loomed nearly every bloody night." In this book, Christensen offers a rare curbside glimpse into the gritty urban world of skid row. A colorful tribute to the cops who have worked skid row as well as the characters who have lived there.

About the Author
Loren Christensen's experience in law enforcement began in 1967 when he served in the army as a military policeman in the United States and in Vietnam. He joined the Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau in 1972 and retired 25 years later in 1997. During those years, he specialized in street gangs, defensive tactics, dignitary protection, and patrolling the bizarre streets of skid row. He now writes full time and teaches martial arts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581600127
• ISBN-13: 978-1581600124
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,701,744 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly funny, poignant and gross, July 20, 1999

By A Customer

I loved this book and so has everyone I have lent it to. I laughed, was moved and disgusted all in the same story. It's an incredible revelation of the human condition. The anecdotes, which range from one to four pages long, chronicle events from the 70's and 80's, as well as a few recent incidents, in an area one officer in the book called, "A place forgotten by God."

Policing was indeed different back then, and if you've been around long enough, this curb side look at skid row will have you laughing and saying to yourself, "Oh yea, I remember that." Like any good story teller, Christensen has woven some tales together and modified some he could not other wise have told.

While Loren lived most of these stories, other officers contributed a few. Some of the anecdotes are so disgusting that you will have to put the book down, though a short time later you will want to pick it up and resume where you left off. There are four chapters: Characters, Sex, Violence and Bodily Excretions, and Loren says there are several stories that could have fit into all of them. He says that Skid Row Beat is not for the easily offended, the overly politically correct, or those who view community policing as a religious experience. The tales run the gamut from absolutely hilarious, to stomach-turning gross, to poignant. One story will offend, another will move you, and another you will retell to your friends. Skid Row Beat is a quick read and I suspect more than one copy will find its way into the "library" next to the porcelain throne where one can read a story or two, put the book down and pick it up the next time you are making a visit.

This book reflects a time before "politically correct" was even a thought, much less a phrase. Times were different, and after reading the book you can only reflect that we have come a long way since the days when it was still a crime to be drunk in public, and the beat cop was expected to "take care of business" on his district. Many of the skid row beat cops were street monsters who were tough as nails on the outside, but with hearts bigger than all of outdoors.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, November 10, 1999

By A Customer

Reading the stories in SKID ROW BEAT is like eating potato chips: you can't stop after just one. I was moved emotionally, sickened and then forced to laugh out loud. Read this book. It's a winner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As real as it gets, December 3, 1999

By	Jeremy Schlott (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

A two word phrase can sum up my opinion of Loren Christensen's book, Reality Check. This book's look at what life is like on skid row is an in your face description of what some people have to go through each and every day. At times I found myself laughing out loud, and others weeping out loud, all with the realization that this was not fiction, it was truth. In Christensen's classic literary genius, he was able to not only capture my attention and mind, but my heart as well.