Finesse Out The Gang Way

Monster

The classic memoir of life as a Crip, written in solitary confinement: “A shockingly raw, frightening portrait of gang life in South Central Los Angeles.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times 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 brutal 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 work 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.

Echoes in the Gangway

The Fifties brought good times to Auburn-Gresham on Chicagos South Side. The thriving business district around 79th & Halsted pulsed with activity. Enter the Murphy family, eight strong and growing. Off go four kids to St. Leo Catholic grammar school, where the Sisters of Providence fervidly teach Religion from the Baltimore Catechism. This warm and funny memoir follows the author from age eight through high school and just beyond. Humorous stories describe life in a family headed by a devoted blue-collar dad and a protective homebody mom. Outnumbered by brothers, two sisters stand up for themselves with admirable pluck. They take piano lessons and win music medals. The boys make forts and push carts and enough trouble to merit occasional lickings from dads belt. There are sibling rivalries, issues at school and fistfights with kids on the way home. Long bike rides and flights downtown on the El train provide escape for the growing brothers. Most things have a funny side, even algebra and jug. Touch football games, chats in the gangway and crushes on unsuspecting girls fill the authors passing days. Much that seemed crucial in 1958 looks comical a half century later.

Gangway for Navy