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| Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member | 
 enlarge | Author: Sanyika Shakur
Publisher: Grove Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $7.67
You Save: $6.33 (45%)
New (39) Used (24) from $6.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  181 reviews
Sales Rank: 8756
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0802141447
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1092
EAN: 9780802141446
ASIN: 0802141447
Publication Date: June 29, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New, unread, publisher over-stock copies. Ships out by NEXT Business Day. We have shipped TWO MILLION+ Amazon orders to-date. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Ought to be on a lot more reading lists! August 10, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
 a serial killers plee for sympathy August 1, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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??
 Tough April 13, 2007
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.
 Who Cares March 15, 2007
7 out of 17 found this review helpful
This book is all about some gang member who polluted LA.
There is nothing REAL about this and everything he does is stupid.
Smart people keep their noses clean and live in tough HOODS and have hard lives to live also.
They grow up and don't spend time in prison and bragg about how tough they are because they carry a gun.
Growing up in the HOOD don't mean you need to be a monster.
Nothing but excuses and all they did was make living in America a worse place.
All the dummys follow in there path.
Put them in jail and keep them there, the world needs no more phony gangbangers...thats for sure.
Hard luck...bull....
Your just weak to begin with.
not bad January 27, 2007
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Not a bad read but not a great read either. I found this book easy to read and not two deep.
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