Iceberg Slim described himself as “ill…from America’s fake façade of justice and democracy,” an illness that may have been a detriment, but evolved into the tales that serve as a chilling reminder that we are all still inmates of one prison or another, and the time to break free has arrived. Iceberg Slim took the public into the raw, unseen, predatory reality of America with his first book, Pimp. This time around, he puts the emphasis on reality with his collection of personal essays. This is Iceberg, in California, broken down into a million pieces of anger, wisdom, but ready for a shift in his own consciousness. From the corrupt LAPD to a broken heart, Iceberg recounts woes that the average Joe can’t even fathom. Iceberg Slim takes us for a ride; this time not only through the harrowing world of a pimp, but through his brain, his soul, and his psyche. The racist, gut-wrenching universe Iceberg Slim inhabits throughout this novel and his struggle to endure is one that will be appreciated by all. The story’s arch of chaos to cleansing is startlingly honest. After all, one can’t help but root for the man who had the courage to rupture the bars of the cell society created for him, and the man who gave a voice to those too afraid to speak. In The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim his voice reigns loud and clear, and ready for vengeance. Iceberg Slim’s story is now depicted in a major motion picture distributed worldwide. Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp shows Slim’s transformation from pimp to the author of seven classic books.

The Eloquence of Effort echoes the merits of conscientious toil. It provides an insightful look into the benefits of sustained socio-economic effort. To convincingly argue that dreams are only achievable through mind-numbing toil, the writer draws heavily from biographical, philosophical, economic, religious, historical and scientific data. Work is the mission; the multiple rewards are the byproducts, he argues. Moreover, the pleasure resides in the effort, not the results. Against the dark backdrop of malignancies inflicted on society by unrepentant leeches, the benefit of conscientious work is sharply focused. The reader is imperceptibly nudged into a higher plane of reality: namely, purposeful effort, regardless of its nature, is supremely rewarding. The writer forces the realization that regardless of the outcome, effort is never wasted. Conversely, indolence is the bane of progress and the root cause of economic crimes. Indeed, corruption in all its diabolical forms is nothing but laziness masquerading as diligence and embraced by vacuous minds craving the most for the least. Analysis of biographical data sustains the thesis that industry prolongs life; inaction truncates it – a finding supported by the second Law of Thermodynamics. The persuasiveness of the arguments is supported by a wealth of references. Together they form the final authority; they have given resonance to the arguments contained herein.

The uncontested center of the black pulp fiction universe for more than four decades was the Los Angeles publisher Holloway House. From the late 1960s until it closed in 2008, Holloway House specialized in cheap paperbacks with page-turning narratives featuring black protagonists in crime stories, conspiracy thrillers, prison novels, and Westerns. From Iceberg Slim’s Pimp to Donald Goines’s Never Die Alone, the thread that tied all of these books together—and made them distinct from the majority of American pulp—was an unfailing veneration of black masculinity. Zeroing in on Holloway House, Street Players explores how this world of black pulp fiction was produced, received, and recreated over time and across different communities of readers. Kinohi Nishikawa contends that black pulp fiction was built on white readers’ fears of the feminization of society—and the appeal of black masculinity as a way to counter it. In essence, it was the original form of blaxploitation: a strategy of mass-marketing race to suit the reactionary fantasies of a white audience. But while chauvinism and misogyny remained troubling yet constitutive aspects of this literature, from 1973 onward, Holloway House moved away from publishing sleaze for a white audience to publishing solely for black readers. The standard account of this literary phenomenon is based almost entirely on where this literature ended up: in the hands of black, male, working-class readers. When it closed, Holloway House was synonymous with genre fiction written by black authors for black readers—a field of cultural production that Nishikawa terms the black literary underground. But as Street Players demonstrates, this cultural authenticity had to be created, promoted, and in some cases made up, and there is a story of exploitation at the heart of black pulp fiction’s origins that cannot be ignored.

In the wake of the Kennedy era, a new kind of ethnic hero emerged within African-American popular culture. Uniquely suited to the times, burgeoning pop icons projected the values and beliefs of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and reflected both the possibility and the actuality of a rapidly changing American landscape. In Black Camelot, William Van Deburg examines the dynamic rise of these new black champions, the social and historical contexts in which they flourished, and their powerful impact on the African-American community. "Van Deburg manages the enviable feat of writing with flair within a standardized academic framework, covering politics, social issues and entertainment with equal aplomb."—Jonathan Pearl, Jazz Times "[A] fascinating, thorough account of how African-American icons of the 1960s and '70s have changed the course of American history. . . . An in-depth, even-tempered analysis. . . . Van Deburg's witty, lively and always grounded style entertains while it instructs."—Publishers Weekly

Over the last few decades, the genre of urban fiction—or street lit—has become increasingly popular as more novels secure a place on bestseller lists that were once the domain of mainstream authors. In the 1970s, pioneers such as Donald Goines, Iceberg Slim, and Claude Brown paved the way for today’s street fiction novelists, poets, and short story writers, including Sister Souljah, Kenji Jasper, and Colson Whitehead. In Street Lit: Representing the Urban Landscape, Keenan Norris has assembled a varied collection of articles, essays, interviews, and poems that capture the spirit of urban fiction and nonfiction produced from the 1950s through the present day. Providing both critical analyses and personal insights, these works explore the street lit phenomenon to help readers understand how and why this once underground genre has become such a vital force in contemporary literature. Interviews with literary icons David Bradley, Gerald Early, and Lynel Gardner are balanced with critical discussions of works by Goines, Jasper, Whitehead, and others. With an introduction by Norris that explores the roots of street lit, this collection defines the genre for today’s readers and provides valuable insights into a cultural force that is fast becoming as important to the American literary scene as hip-hop is to music. Featuring a foreword by bestselling novelist Omar Tyree (Flyy Girl) and comprised of works by scholars, established authors, and new voices, Street Lit will inspire any reader who wants to understand the significance of this sometimes controversial but unquestionably popular art form.

Entry includes attestations of the head word's or phrase's usage, usually in the form of a quotation. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Quill Pen Ink Publishing presents The Five-Star Review: A Collection of Cat Ellington’s Top-Rated Book Reviews from 1981-2021. Spanning 40 years of Cat Ellington’s work as a critic of literature, the reference features an alphabetized list highlighting all of her five-star reviews composed throughout that time. Part of the Cat Ellington Literary Collection, this stand-alone selection is an excellent read for both reviewers and book lovers alike.

A fascinating exploration of the role of language in the culture of resistance, this volume features hundreds of colorful expressions, with examples of defiant slang from books, movies, periodicals, and other media. Sources include communities of African Americans, immigrant minorities, poor whites, gay men, the armed forces, prisoners, the workplace, and countercultures. Hardcover edition.