Street poison : the biography of Iceberg Slim / Justin Gifford.

Title:

Iceberg Slim

Author:

Gifford, Justin, 1975-

ISBN:

9780385538343

(hbk.)

0385538340

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Info:

New York :

Description:

xxi, 265 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Personal Subject:

Iceberg Slim, 1918-1992.

Subject(s):

African American authors -- Biography.

African Americans -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography.

Pimps -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Penrose Library	Book	813.54 ICEB GIFF	Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
Searching... Penrose Library	Book	813.54 ICEB GIFF	Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

The first and definitive biography of one of America's bestselling, notorious, and influential writers of the twentieth century: Iceberg Slim, né Robert Beck, author of the multimillion-copy memoir Pimp and such equally popular novels as Trick Baby and Mama Black Widow . From a career as a, yes, ruthless pimp in the '40s and '50s, Iceberg Slim refashioned himself as the first and still the greatest of "street lit" masters, whose vivid books have made him an icon to such rappers as Ice-T, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg and a presiding spirit of "blaxploitation" culture. You can't understand contemporary black (and even American) culture without reckoning with Iceberg Slim and his many acolytes and imitators.

Literature professor Justin Gifford has been researching the life and work of Robert Beck for a decade, culminating in Street Poison , a colorful and compassionate biography of one of the most complicated figures in twentieth-century literature. Drawing on a wealth of archival material--including FBI files, prison records, and interviews with Beck, his wife, and his daughters--Gifford explores the sexual trauma and racial violence Beck endured that led to his reinvention as Iceberg Slim, one of America's most infamous pimps of the 1940s and '50s. From pimping to penning his profoundly influential confessional autobiography, Pimp , to his involvement in radical politics, Gifford's biography illuminates the life and works of one of American literature's most unique renegades.

Author Notes

Justin Gifford is an associate professor of English literature at the University of Nevada, Reno. His teaching and research focus on American and African American literature. He is the author of several books including Pimping Fictions: African American Crime Literature and the Untold Story of Black Pulp Publishing and Street Poison: The Biography of Iceberg Slim.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Robert Beck, aka Iceberg Slim, author of the megabestselling memoir Pimp and one of the most influential black writers of the 20th century, is given reverential treatment in this well-researched biography. Gifford traces Beck's story from his childhood in Chicago during the depression, through a life of petty crime and his pimping in the 1940s and '50s, to his flash of fame as an author and cult voice to a generation, and through his eventual decline, though he retained an air of dignity and garnered respect from those around him. Voice actor Jackson brings a solid presence to his reading. His clear, well-articulated narration keeps Beck's story moving at a steady pace, and he transitions easily into a street voice for quotations from Beck's interviews and writing. The book is a fascinating look at a writer who, despite his millions of sales, is little known by the general public but whose influence is still being felt today. A Doubleday hardcover. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* There is an alternative realm of African American writing beyond the work of such historic luminaries as Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Richard Wright the black pulp underworld, ruled by a tall, lanky ex-con and former pimp from Chicago's South Side who called himself Iceberg Slim. After a decade of intense research, Gifford presents the first full biography of Robert Iceberg Slim Beck (1918-92), diligently chronicling his brutal and redemptive experiences at the epicenter of twentieth-century urban black America and zealously establishing Beck's standing as an influential antiestablishment writer, who inspired gangsta rap, hip-hop, and street lit. Discouraged by the limited opportunities for African Americans, especially during the Great Depression, Beck succumbed to street poison and the false glamor of pimping. Gifted with a steel-trap memory, he absorbed the oral mythology and codes of conduct for whorology during his frequent incarcerations (under appalling conditions), material he brazenly put into practice, then mined to write the scorching memoir that ignited his literary career, Pimp: The Story of My Life (1967). Beck then published gritty crime novels (the newly discovered Shetani's Sister is due soon), and as his books sold in the millions (and his publisher ripped him off), he spoke out against racism, violence, and the exploitation of women. Gifford's dramatic, hard-core, contextually dynamic, and powerfully affecting biography is sharply relevant to today's civil rights struggles.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2015 Booklist

Library Journal Review

In 1967, a small L.A.-based publishing house released Iceberg Slim's (ne Robert Beck) Pimp: Story of My Life. It and Beck's subsequent books sold millions of copies outside the mainstream book trade. Early in his life, Beck gravitated toward the rough street life of Chicago and Milwaukee. Racial discrimination and segregation fostered an environment of gambling, gangsters, and sex workers that Beck found fascinating. He pimped through the 1940s and 1950s and served time in local, state, and federal prisons. The 1960s brought to Beck the desire to go straight; he became involved in radical politics and began evolving as an artist. Gifford uses Beck's writings, prison records, print and television interviews, and interviews with Beck's wife and children, among others, to argue that Beck stands as an important figure in contemporary culture and a major influence on modern literature, films, and music. VERDICT This is a fascinating look at a unique voice in modern American culture. Recommended to all listeners. ["Gifford makes a strong case for the enormous popular appeal and the continuing widespread influence of Iceberg Slim": LJ 5/15/15 review of the Doubleday hc.]--Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. -Parkersburg Lib. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Preface	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Chapter 1 Childhood	p. 7
Chapter 2 Education	p. 25
Chapter 3 Prison	p. 45
Chapter 4 Chicago	p. 73
Chapter 5 Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary	p. 97
Chapter 6 On the Road	p. 115
Chapter 7 Los Angeles	p. 139
Chapter 8 Hollywood	p. 161
Chapter 9 Final Years	p. 197
Acknowledgments	p. 227
Notes	p. 231
Bibliography	p. 245
Index	p. 251

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