Book Review: Pimp: The Story of My Life

Hello All. Now, my friend Gwen hipped me to Iceberg Slim. First, with his book, Mama Black Widow and now Pimp. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that it would be in-you-face reality. I got that and more. Pimp: The Story Of My Life is brutally honest and it seems to wallow on the dark, ugly side of human nature. It’s definitely not for the weak-stomach, illusion-preferred-having people. This is about the other side of reality that many of us, by the Grace Of God, will only encounter in a book, such as Pimp.

Pimp covers the life of Iceberg Slim, from his early childhood to his first stint in prison to his rise and fall as a pimp. Simp opens the door and a window to the seedy side of town. He goes into details of how to "turn" a woman to become a prostitute, his relationship to the women in his "stable", rules in the unwritten book of pimping, and even gives a brief history of the black pimp. But, the most dangerous is his insight into human nature. It’s not pretty, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I was captivated. I felt like a kid reading Hustler in the middle of the night, under the covers with a flashlight. For it seemed that I was reading and learning things that I shouldn’t. Let’s face, it disturb the devil out of me.

The only element about the narrative of the book is the fact that Slim used slang throughout it. Normally, I wouldn’t mind it, but you must realize that the slang he used are words that was used almost 60 years ago. Yep, a history lesson unto itself. Eventually, I caught on, but it took a while.

Pimp is indeed powerful. Years ago I heard that there was a possibility that some people in Hollywood was thinking about making Pimp into a movie. It could be done. But the only problem is…who would play Iceberg Slim?