Ghetto Bastard: A Memoir

by Russell Vann

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Society has labelled babies born between 1961 and 1982 Generation X. But in 1968, in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, which was one of the most dope-infested areas of the world, they donned another moniker.

Right across the bridge from Harlem, in the glory days of notorious drug kingpins such as Nicky Barns and Frank Lucas, children born in this section were known as Generation Next, because no one looked at those babies and asked: "Who's going to be a doctor? Lawyer? Politician? Businessman? Real estate tycoon?" Instead they wondered:

Which of these babies is the next dope fiend? The next dope dealer? The next one to go to prison? The next unwed teenaged mother?

The odds of one of these children, a Gen Next, surviving their circumstances undamaged were on par with the journey of sperm to egg: three hundred million are in the race, but only one makes it to the target.

Ghetto Bastard is a story of survival. Malik was born into these circumstances--with no father to teach him how to be a man, and to a mother who didn't want him. Malik must navigate his way to adulthood with only the streets as his guide--through the seventies heroin infestation, the eighties crack rage, and the nineties Clinton mass incarceration era, and AIDS epidemic.

Once he becomes a man, his vision broadens, but will it be enough to abandon the very ghetto that created him?

Ghetto Bastard is the intimate journey of an innocent child in search of love and self-worth. He just wants what we all want. And Malik Russell wasn't born with any 'quit', so he's got that going for him, but neither was his opponent: the ghetto.

410 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the author's story's first book. I was hooked from page one. His story is very intriguing! I really want to read the second book! This book leaves you wanting to read the second one. The author has gone through quite a bit.

[Karolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many of us didn´t feel loved and wanted when they were little? It is extremly hard to cope as a child with physical, emotional and verbal abuse. At the end it is a very strong fondation for lack of selfesteem and selflove. Feeling jealous as a child causes very often a huge conflict in our soul and in our body. It could make us sick if we are not strong enough. The memory of a child is amaznig. You never forget… You forgive but forgetting is not possible. I cried reading that book because you can feel the emotional and physical pain.

[Julia Simpson-Urrutia · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as my heart went out to this author, who didn’t even know if he had a family when he was little, the redundant use of the m—f— word, like a dung heap, though I slogged through to give him every chance, made me believe that the intended audience is people who prefer vulgarities to other words. I didn’t think such people read books.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a memoir and Russell Vann was the protagonist for the first half of the book. He had an awful childhood and lousy parents. However, he crossed the line into immoral/criminal behavior by much too great a distance for me to actually root for him towards the end of the book.

[Kristi Duarte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blow-by-blow retelling of an extremely tragic childhood. No one deserves to be brought up under those kind of circumstances. Malik Russell's mother didn't want him, so she left him with an aunt who beat him up every day. A very sad read.

[Misse Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow.