Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press

	Title: Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member Purchase Item Manufacturer: Grove Press List Price: $14.00 Our Price: $7.19
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Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press Chase von's review of Monster....
There are so many things that can be said about this book, because it makes you think on so many different levels. It's brutally honest, and no holds barred, violent and as ruthless as things can get but... Then there is more... And I to date haven't read a book to surpass this in actually putting one "There" in the life of a Gang Banger. It made me think about the loss of innocence, it also made me think about what would have happened if this same man had of been raised else where in a different environment? I'll leave that one to the philosophers and all but the conclusion I came up with is he would have survived no matter where he was planted. When I first read Eldridge Cleavers "Soul On Ice" I was shocked at the intelligence pouring from the pages. I had the same feeling reading "Monster" by Sanyika Shakur. Highly intelligent! This book reads like a birds eye view of his life! It even inspired me to write on the subject so I give credit where credit is due. If you want to know what is really happening in the streets and neighborhoods of America then read this book!!!! Raw? Without a doubt, but as shocking as all it is, there is also compassion revealed and revelations and for the man to live to write about it is a miracle to begin with. I think this book deserves far more than what Amazon has in levels to rate. To understand the real picture you have to see the underside... And this book reveals it as few have and is an important part of American Literature and a testimony of how it really is with no holds barred! And in addition to all the other things this man has been, one that he has certainly proven himself to be, without a doubt is an exceptional author and one who knows how to truly write something you won't have to worry about forgetting... Because you won't... Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press Violent and thought provoking, it's a pity the author didn't think more.
Okay, it's exciting to read about all the murder; downtown LA must really be another world, and if that's what you're looking to read about, here's the book. My eyes were really opened by that aspect of this book, and I've passed the book on to a new owner for that reason. So why only two stars? The back of the book talks about the author's ("Monster Kody") transcendence of his gangland origins. Bah. He's unrepentant, he glorifies gang life, and his 'personal growth' was when he realized that he needed to stop hating other black people for living on the wrong street and so started hating white people for the crimes of their ancestors and for the way the racist cops and prison guards treated the serial-murderer willful criminals. A young black man who is mistakenly treated like a criminal is a victim of injustice. A young black criminal who is assumed to be a criminal because he is black, however, needs to examine how he's helping support the stereotype. A lot of bad things happened to Monster Cody in this book, and a real percentage (not as high as a quarter, but still) of those things were done by corrupt white people. Every one of those things was earned. Monster Cody is racist. Reading the book has me struggling not to become so myself.
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press Ought to be on a lot more reading lists!
Monster Kody Scott, leading gunman of the Eight Tray Gangstas, recounts his gory murders, robberies and exploits as a member of the notorious Crips. A sickening tide of violence visited this man's life in the span of a decade, from gunning down enemy Bloods to facing death at the hands of rival Crips. Whether you're an at-risk youth or an activist against the system, you need to read Shakur bare his soul to deliver a message about the cycle of violence in South Central, the descent into crack cocaine during the mid-1980s and the city authorities' chronic failure to address the gang warfare through jobs and youth programs instead of a military-style police crackdown. Its too bad that Shakur doesn't delve deeper into the Black Nationalist ideology that eventually steered him away from his fellow Eight Trays like Crazy De and Lil' Tray. Why not challenge the reader's own beliefs about race and class in America, even if Black Nationalism falls short as a revolutionary approach? That said, this is just the type of book that ought to make it on a lot more reading lists in America's schools. Almost anyone with a conscience can connect with this book, even if Shakur's life makes you want to scream at the top of your lungs.
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press a serial killers plee for sympathy
This book would be a much more interesting read if the author would have just presented his actions without trying to fake his deep moral feelings and such. The stories he relates of his life on the streets are of course interesting, giving you a window into the life of a remorseless serial murderer. He shows very little regret for his actions or sympathy for his victims, about the best he can come up with is that they should not have been there, in his way. He searches through most of the book for someone to blame, obvious targets like white people (americans), cops, the prison system are pointed out, no surprise there. He constantly compares himself and his fellow criminals to the military, attempting to make them seem in some way noble I guess, but it falls flat. He even goes so far as to compare himself (favorably) to the president, when he tattoo's his gang name on his neck, saying the president lacks the conviction to tattoo "republican" or "capitalist" on his own neck. It's silly thoughts like this that lessen the impact of this book, and just make him seem naive, a child in a man's skin. Overall, some good writing in between a lot of propaganda and excuses. And what is the point of replacing "understand" with "overstand" throughout the book??
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press Tough
This book is tough! When I read this, I was living in a small town in the Northwest, with a low occurrence of violent crime and an obscenely high average education level (lot's of dishwashers with Master's degrees), but nonetheless, while reading this book, I would find myself riding around in my friends' cars, and wondering why I'd left my "gat" @ home. Considering I don't even own a gun, that is fairly impressive. The book is engrossing,entertaining and thought provoking, all in equal measure. I mean it's no Autobiography of Malcolm X, but I'd say it is definitely a biography worth reading.
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Grove Press Product Description
Written in solitary confinement, Kody Scott's memoir of sixteen years as a gangbanger in Los Angeles was a searing bestseller and became a classic, published in ten languages, with more than 300,000 copies in print in the United States alone. After pumping eight blasts from a sawed-off shotgun at a group of rival gang members, twelve-year-old Kody Scott was initiated into the L.A. gang the Crips. He quickly matured into one of the most formidable Crip combat soldiers, earning the name "Monster" for committing acts of brutality and violence that repulsed even his fellow gang members. When the inevitable jail term confined him to a maximum-security cell, a complete political and personal transformation followed: from Monster to Sanyika Shakur, black nationalist, member of the New Afrikan Independence Movement, and crusader against the causes of gangsterism. In a document that has been compared to The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice, Shakur makes palpable the despair and decay of America's inner cities and gives eloquent voice to one aspect of the black ghetto experience today.