Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member

published	June 29th 2004 by Grove Press
binding	Paperback
isbn	0802141447 (isbn13: 9780802141446)
pages	383
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, pu...more [close] 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. [close]
date added	01-31-07 edit book

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Annette rated it:

12/26/07

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: People who don't overstand

Wow, my liberal guilt meter must already be on full because I fucking hated this autobiography. I encourage everyone to skim the other reviews to understand why it is so highly rated and who is doing the rating. However, I will not bite.

Ok, "Monster" Kody fucking shoots PEOPLE a/k/a HUMAN BEINGS without so much as a fore or afterthought. He writes about these murders as if they are "points" to be gained in a game and nothing more. I was expecting to see Kody redeem hims...more Wow, my liberal guilt meter must already be on full because I fucking hated this autobiography. I encourage everyone to skim the other reviews to understand why it is so highly rated and who is doing the rating. However, I will not bite.

Ok, "Monster" Kody fucking shoots PEOPLE a/k/a HUMAN BEINGS without so much as a fore or afterthought. He writes about these murders as if they are "points" to be gained in a game and nothing more. I was expecting to see Kody redeem himself in the end. I was hopeful when a Muslim preacher came in and struck a nerve with the boy (who I believe was 15 at the time and in prison).

But woe...woe...Kody simply redirected his Eight Tray Gangster CRIPS hatred of the Sixties over onto those evil white people who he refers to as "Americans" (me?) that oppress him by assuming he should get a fucking day job instead of rollin thru the hood all day long shooting people & getting high on PCP. Fucking oppressive bastards! Oh, and woe, woe that Monster has to spend time in PRISON for assault and battery after he KILLS people.
You know how I know how Kody is not redeemed? Read the "prose" closely. "We strapped up" "we went hunting for a mark" "we grabbed our enemy"..."THEY then shot him." "THEY then cut his damn arms off" "THEY kept his arm..." Yeah. Doesn't even take responsibility for his own goddamned actions.

And shut up about this gang lifestyle being "inescapable" for the love of all that is holy. I mean, only ONE kid got expelled for flinging gang signs in the school photo. There are a lot of kids that are "off limits" to being killed because they are "civilians". So shut up about being in a gang is "safer."
I was hoping that Kody, after finding he is indeed not a nigga', but a "New Afrikan" would get out of prison and maybe mentor young gangbangers to get out of banging. But no...want to know how it ends? If not, don't read the following:

He is thrown back in prison for assaulting a dude and stealing his van. But wait...Monster is the one wrongly captured by the racist and evil pigs! You see, the dude was a CRACK addict who wouldn't stop slinging on the corner, and Monster just was trying to do the right thing and has to 'confiscate' the crack addict's van. Woe. WOE to the parolee that does not call the police to take care of crack addicts! WOE WOE to the neck-tattooed 'former' banger who rather than stand by his self-asserted moral rectitude and go in front of a jury instead pleads to 7 years.
Am I supposed to sympathize with a person who blames all of his murderous and animalistic behavior on people he has never even met (me)? Hello? I give to charity! I mentor inner-city children! I don't car jack people! I don't shoot people! I don't have a bunch of illegitimate children whom I ignore! I don't make people drink cups of my own piss! WHO IN THE HELL IS OPPRESSING "YOUR PEOPLE", MOTHER FUCKER? YOU ARE. WAKE THE FUCK UP AND WRITE PART II.

I'm glad this punk ass is still in prison.

He can't find me through goodreads.com, can he? If he can, I was just kidding, and this book is totally sweet and gets 5 stars!...less

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11 comments

Daniel rated it:

07/17/08

bookshelves: 90s, biography, contemporary

Read in January, 1998

recommends it for: L.A. Natives, People interested in gang/prison culture,

I read this book when I was too young to understand this book. I was living in L.A. at the time, and Gang Violence was just starting to decline and fade into memory. It has the obligatory descriptions of violence, drug use and sex that are inherent to the gang life and that makes this an exciting read. That might not be a PC thing to say, but if violence, sex and drugs didn't sell there wouldn't be a music or a movie industry.

I understand where some of these other reviewers are coming from (...more I read this book when I was too young to understand this book. I was living in L.A. at the time, and Gang Violence was just starting to decline and fade into memory. It has the obligatory descriptions of violence, drug use and sex that are inherent to the gang life and that makes this an exciting read. That might not be a PC thing to say, but if violence, sex and drugs didn't sell there wouldn't be a music or a movie industry.

I understand where some of these other reviewers are coming from (I'm guessing mostly red states) when they say they are turned off by the cold hearted tone of the author, but that was this young man's reality at the time. He wasn't the only one. This is an honest description of what life was like for a lot of kids growing up in that place at that time, and I respect that he writes about it so honestly and so unapologetically. I think to feign remorse in his writing would be disrespectful to his victims and his audience. I read some people say they felt like he wasn't taking any responsibility. I must disagree with that as well. I mean, the man did publish a book detailing his transgressions and the consequences they held for him, his friends and family. If that isn't accepting responsibility I don't know what is.

This is not a book glamorizing gang culture. This is merely a description of that culture. Some will inevitably claim otherwise, but perhaps there is something in the savage freedom of that lifestyle that appeals to them on a certain level. How a book that describes the nightmarish deaths of so many close friends and ends with the author behind bars can be said to glamorize violence is beyond me.

Some people seemed upset that there wasn't a suitable resolution at the end (I expect everyone was hoping he'd find Jesus or something and go counsel the kids) but that too is reality. A lot of stories, particularly for kids like these, don't have happy endings. That is life, thankfully not for all of us, but for some.If you're curious about what that life is like for those few, then this is the book for you....less

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