Shakur, Sanyika. Monster. New York. Penguin Books: May 1, 1995.
Reason, Type and Setting: I chose this book because a friend recommended it. This book is an autobiography that takes place in South Central LA from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Content: Kody Scott a.k.a Monster was a notorious L.A. gang member part of the Eight Tray crips. He got his nickname at 13 years old when he stomped a mans face in and the officers who were looking for witnesses said; “Whoever did this had to be a monster”. The name just stuck. Monster is just one example of the many kids who are dragged into the gang lifestyle because of the social poverty due to their ethnicity. As Monster progresses in the gang lifestyle he loses his morals and his “set”(a word for a smaller gang) becomes everything. It takes place for his mother, his religion, his life… The gangbanging life is made to take over your life, one of the many reasons it is inescapable. By the age the of sixteen he had been to jail, taken many lives and was well known in the gang community. During his time in jail the stereotypes of racism became reality. The white guards working in the jail brutally beat the inmates, specifically targeting the groin to inflict the most pain. Once coming out of jail and returning to your set, you become “O.G”. O.G means your are an original gangster, you have done time and instead of going about a normal life, you returned to the gangster lifestyle. Once becoming O.G, everyone has to respect you.
Chapter: The first chapter was by far the most important chapter in the book. In this chapter the book talks mainly about Monsters life and how he was introduced to the gang Eight Tray crips. The initiation into the gang all happened one night when went of to a house of the gang members. Short story; he ended up smoking PCP and killing a man, at the age of 11. This chapter really points out how blacks in South Central LA are drawn into gang activities because of poor family structure, poverty, not having a father and so on.
Evaluation: The book was very interesting, it was hard to put down. I learned a lot about the crips and bloods and even though you would think the all crips where on the same side and all bloods were on the same side, that wasn’t true. Bloods would kill other bloods and crips would kill other crips, this is where the “sets” would come into play. Yes I would recommend this book. This book talks a lot about problems today. South Central LA still has just as much gang activity going on, even though the police are doing everything they can, people are still dying. I think its important to read this book because it educates one on how harsh gang members can be.
Author, Context and Trivia: This author also wrote T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. I have learned many things about this author because the book is an autobiography. I read a book called TWEAK which was very similar to this book in the sense that they were both autobiographies about a man whose life was pretty harsh. I will probably read his other book.