Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
by Sanyika Shakur
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sanyika ShakurEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-06-29
ISBN: 0802141447
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Grove Press
Book Reviews of Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
Book Review: Sanyika Tells His Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Monster is an auto-biography of the the ex-Eight Tray Crip member "Monster" Kody Scott, or as he's known now, Sanyika Shakur. This book sheds light on the harsh realities taking place in inner-city America, telling a story that few would most likely not live to tell. Sanyika holds nothing back whilst telling his story. He lived with a single mom, and he had five other brothers. There was no man in the house. At the tender age of eleven, he was initiated into the Crips (Eight Tray Crip), after he belted rival gang members with eight shots from a sawed-off shotgun. After he was initiated, Sanyika earned respect for himself by commiting terrible acts of violence and always being on his guard. This earned him the name of "Monster".
From early on, you can see the street mentality that Monster has. He was relentless in his attack on rivals (Namely the "Rollin' Sixties" Crips), and he takes on the leadership of his set, which he pledges allegiance to early in the book, and the importance of comradery is presented. As his story rages on, it turns into an all-out war with other Crips. It's through these times you see just how real his story is. Soon his little brother, Kershaun, is into gangbanging too, getting his name "Li'l Monster" from being Monster's little brother. Monster was in and out of jail periodically, but one incident led him to Youth Training School for 4 years. Here, he meets the Muslim Muhammad Abdullah, who introduces him to a different way of thinking. Over the years, through his stint in YTS and in San Quentin, his way of thinking alters. He starts to read more about the Black Panthers and Black men who rebelled against the government. He soon tries to leave his gangbanging lifestyle, all while changing his name and trying to provide a better life for his wife and their three kids, so they don't follow in the same path as he did. However, he also lets you know that this transformation was not easy. Of course there was going to be bangers who wanted Monster and not Sanyika, and considering that street life was all he'd ever known, it would be hard to leave his old lifestyle behind. Even though he was not a banger anymore, at the end of the book, Sanyika was serving another 7-year stint for beating a crackdealer who refused to move off his block.
Sanyika's story is very powerful. It helps you to see what really goes on in South Central, through the eyes of someone who was there participating fully. It's also amazing to learn that he could barely understand words like "struggle" when handed phamplets by Muhammad, and how he couldn't communicate his thoughts through writing very well. If not for him mentioning this in the book, you wouldn't have known, for this book is very well-written. Another thing I'd like to point out, is that Stanley "Tookie" Williams was referenced in this book, as Sanyika knew Tookie and had talked and smoked with him before. If the book was written just recently, it would have been nice to know what Sanyika thought about Tookie's execution, since Tookie had also changed his ways in prison. But since this was published years before Tookie's trial, of course there is no mention. Towards the end, he talks just a little about the Bloods & the Crips supposedly ending their rivalry, but he says the real war is Crips vs. Crips.
I strongly recommend picking this up. This is one of those books that grabs your attention from the start and never loosens it's hold on you. Sanyika doesn't hold anything back or water anything down. The story remains just as raw and gritty as the reality behind it all. Mark Annichiarico of the Library Journal said it best though. The many names of gangs and gangbangers can get confusing, but overall it doesn't make a difference. Sanyika presents a harsh reality for inner-city youths and many, many people everywhere have no idea what it's like to live as a banger or why teens do it. This book will defnitely lead you to understand better the mind of youth in the ghetto. I recommend this for anyone's book collection.
Summary of Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
After pumping eight blasts from a sawed-off shotgun at a group of rival gang members, eleven-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, Scott channeled his aggression and drive into educating himself. 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.Memoirs Books
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