Pimp: The Story of My Life

by Iceberg Slim

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346 ratings, 3.88 average rating, 51 reviews (more data...)

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5		28%
4		37%
3		26%
2		5%
1		1%

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published

1987 (first published 1967) by Holloway House Pub Co

binding

Mass Market Paperback, 317 pages

isbn

0870679791 (isbn13: 9780870679797)

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Chris rated it:

06/14/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Chris by: my local pimp
recommends it for: anyone properly preparing for a pimp-n-ho party

“Pimp” is fantastic. For about a decade now this has been one of my favorite books, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Granted, I should immediately admit that I probably like this book for all the wrong reasons; I’m sure that the ‘correct’ grounds for appreciating “Pimp” (if such standards have been established) are to ponder the struggles of the black man fighting to rise up in American society and to look at the infelicitous lot he’s been subjected to and to care...more “Pimp” is fantastic. For about a decade now this has been one of my favorite books, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Granted, I should immediately admit that I probably like this book for all the wrong reasons; I’m sure that the ‘correct’ grounds for appreciating “Pimp” (if such standards have been established) are to ponder the struggles of the black man fighting to rise up in American society and to look at the infelicitous lot he’s been subjected to and to carefully inspect the inherent disparities built into ‘the system’, which are broadly applied based solely on skin color. I don’t really care about all that mumbo-jumbo, that garbage doesn’t move me nor does it inspire any worthwhile thought on my behalf. Hell, if anything, that crap pissed me off.

My enjoyment of “Pimp” is certainly less insightful and far more puerile; more of an appreciation of the basest elements of the story. Slim rapping about social injustice: yawn. Slim talking all raw to the bitches in his stable before putting a foot in their ass: brilliant. Slim trash talking some jive turkey: far out. That’s right, Slim’s badass rap has inspired me to use ‘far out’ for the first time since 1988.

I’m going to need to justify that, so here’s a little taste of Slim’s masterful lambasting: “Listen square-ass bitch, I have never had a whore I couldn’t do without. I celebrate, bitch, when a whore leaves me. It gives some worthy bitch a chance to take her place and be a star. You scurvy bitch, if I shit in your face you gotta love it and open your mouth wide.” I couldn’t come up with anything remotely as solid in a hundred years. With that sample alone, and considering that many rappers consider him an influence, it’s no wonder the word ‘bitch’ has enjoyed such proliferation in their craft. Needless to say, if objectifying and degrading women bothers you, “Pimp” should probably be removed from your to-read list.

The story chronicles the pimping exploits of Robert Beck in the American Midwest from the 1930s to the 1950s. He starts off small-time as Young Blood, but aspires to be the best damn pimp this world has ever seen. All he has to do is learn the rules of the game from the current master, Chicago’s alpha-pimp, the badass “Sweet Jones. Sweet may be one of the most compelling and awesome figures in US History. Before even being introduced to him, Slim gets the word on the street that Sweet is “the best n!gger pimp in the world, if they got n!gger pimps in outer space he’s the best of them too, he’s lugging twenty G’s and nobody is crazy enough to try heisting him, he croaks n!ggers for recreation.” His stable reigns supreme, his bitches are obedient and focused on getting Sweet’s ass some scratch, and there’s only one bitch in the world he cares about, his ocelot, Miss Peaches. That’s right, the baddest, bigass stud in all of Chi-town spends half his scratch on diamond necklaces and little knit sweaters for his darling feline. Miss Peaches is one of the more intriguing characters of the book as well, farting in public, chomping fried chicken, and staring punks and suckas down with a icy gaze.

After learning the subtle nuances of the pimping game from Sweet and his pal “Glass Top”, Slim experiences the ups and downs of the lifestyle he sought; his bitches rat him out to the feds, he almost screws a tranny in a ridiculously hilarious scene, he gets swindled and conned, he swindles and cons, he batters his trollops, goes to prison several times, pulls a jailbreak, and discovers it’s feast or famine in this cop & blow game.

In spite of all the majesty within, there are a few negative elements. The first issue is pretty inconsequential: Slim doesn’t’ spend a whole lot of time describing details of the environment or setting very well, usually you’re lucky to get such scintillating descriptions like “The sky was a fresh, bright bitch.” So when he does actually throw in something a bit beefier like “the first April night had gone sucker and gifted her with a shimmering bracelet of diamond stars…the fat moon lurked like an evil yellow eye staring down.” These few instances stick out like a sore thumb and seem like someone else added them during the editing process. The larger issue I had was his rapping about being a black man in the white man’s world and the hurdles this creates for him, which is probably the message of the book, but to me it was just an annoying interruption from his god-like dispensation of wrath upon his various whores. Call me whack, but in my humble opinion, the white man did put forth the effort to come to this new world and chase off those pesky redskin devils, which does seem to make it his ‘world’, and Slim isn’t exactly making any strides towards establishing a better life for his peeps by pimping their asses on the street. Lastly, I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number the number of times he boasts about his alleged 175 I.Q, especially since he usually mentions it to show the shock of some peckerwood honky that some brother just duped him. For a guy who is usually ‘running on all 175 pistons’ he sure as hell makes plenty of stupid-ass calls, and again, doesn’t seem to realize that pimping his own people is probably why their lot in life isn’t ideal; he and his fellow whoremongers are doing more harm than the white man would even bother to.

As a last note, I’m not a fan of ‘urban-lit’ or anything minority-inspired (women’s-lit, gay-lit, latino-lit, etc) as some attempt to ‘broaden my horizons’. As a rule, if I pick up a book and see some glowing praise how it ‘helped shape and define the struggles of the inuit/aborigine/future visitors from the solar system around Alcor’ my reaction will be similar to that of grabbing an electric eel. Though I firmly embrace my narrow-mindedness and ig’nance, the fact I can still enjoy “Pimp”, even for all the wrong reasons, shows the power of Slim’s daunting invective.
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