In his introduction to Doom Fox, Ice T comments: "Critics might say the same thing about Doom Fox that they sometimes say about Slim's other books that it's negative. I say that street life is negative. Change the conditions of the ghetto and the stories will change." (ix) StreetTalk presents … [Read more...]
Iceberg Slim’s Pimp was Hobbesian
According to Lee Server, in The Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction, "Pimp was powerful in effect, bluntly Hobbesian in philosophy, sizzling with matter-of-fact, unapologetic violence and sexism, contained a vivid self-portrait of Slim himself, the ego-driven, unsentimental, hedonistic, whip smart … [Read more...]
Ice T on Iceberg Slim
In his introduction to Doom Fox, Iceberg Slim's (Robert Beck) last book, Ice T wrote: "He spoke my language. The language of the ghetto. He wasn't writing from the perspective of some brother who got outta the hood, but from the perspective of an insider." StreetTalk presents quotes from … [Read more...]
Autobiographical Form of the “Bad Man”
"One reason why the form [urban fiction] has never been seen before is due to the fact that Robert Beck is the first urban slum-born-and-bred writer in the history of letters. Beck was born where Bigger Thomas was invented, had a father whose pedagogical methodology consisted of smashing his kid's … [Read more...]
ICEBERG SLIM: THE LIFE AS ART by Peter A. Muckley
The life of Robert Beck is one of tragedy, drama, triumph, and triumphant disappointment. His life and the lives he witnessed inspired the memorable characters he created in his novels and essays penned until his death in 1992. In Iceberg Slim, unofficial biographer Peter Muckley has dissected the … [Read more...]
DOOM FOX by Iceberg Slim
Propelled by the story of Joe “Kong” Allen and his gorgeous, treacherous wife, Doom Fox is the last in Iceberg Slim’s legendary series of underground novels. Written in 1978 and unpublished until now, Doom Fox is a tale of the Los Angeles ghetto that begins after World War II and spans the … [Read more...]
AIRTIGHT WILLIE & ME by Iceberg Slim
When it comes to “hos” and the men who run them, when it comes to intriguing and super-paced rivalry between ambitious pushers and dealers who sell dreams in a blizzard of white powder, when it comes to knowing the streets, it takes a real player and that player is Robert Beck. For more than two … [Read more...]
DEATH WISH by Iceberg Slim
Author Robert Beck, better known by his ghetto pseudonym, “Iceberg Slim,” again displays his unique and compelling talent in this novel about the mafia – an organization whose working details he know intimately. It’s an ideal setting for Beck’s superb characterization as he portrays the … [Read more...]
LONG WHITE CON by Iceberg Slim
Author Robert Beck, better known by his ghetto pseudonym, “Iceberg Slim,” told the story of a blue-eyed, light haired, white-skinned Negro called “White Folks,” the most incredible con man the ghetto ever spawned, in the most famous of all of his books, Trick Baby. That, however, wasn’t … [Read more...]
THE NAKED SOUL OF ICEBERG SLIM by Iceberg Slim
Don't cry for his soul because he's Black. Though Black is pain. Black is death. Black is despair. Black is the ghetto where he was born. And lived. As a pimp, dope addict, brutalizer of women - and other Blcks. But he cured himself of the ghetto rot. To write - as no other man ever has - about his … [Read more...]
