Iceberg Slim, The First Pimpin Author – Review Of Pimp
Iceberg Slim is one of the most successful African American writers ever. That may surprise you, principally if you haven’t heard the name before but the truth is he sold millions of books and, in effect, helped to invent a brand new genre of fiction.
His initial book, entitled Pimp, can be described as a virtual autobiography of his times being a Pimp in Chicago through the 1950′s. It was published from the late 1960′s and was one of the initial books to cover the life and times of a street pimp. It covered the day after day life of a pimp, including his philosophy and much of the distinctive terms and dialog that a pimp would use. It explains how a pimp controls his ladies and the varied intrigues and competition that goes on with other pimps, the law and also the John’s. Reading the book is like entering into an alternative world very similar to reading Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting.
Iceberg Slim spent many of these years in jail for minor and major transgressions. A final spell in prison persuaded him it was time to give up the illegal life and do something else with his life. He turned to writing and finished Pimp and six extra novels. The stints inside prison underline or enlighten the narrative of the Pimp book.
In effect the book can be described as a admonitory story told in a vibrant and expressive style. It is essentially saying do as I say not as I do. Do not go down a similar path as me because it will eventually simply end in imprisonment, harm and sadness. And because the writer is lucid and tells a great story, the narrative doesn’t seem to rebuke the reader however charms instead.
His works assisted to create the style of writing generally known as urban fiction, street literature, and black pulp fiction. This genre covered the lives of individuals living in the densely populated inner metropolitan areas of the Mid West. As the genre name suggest these books were meant to become page turners. The themes dealt with crime and trying to get ahead in communities that were usually poor. The works proved to be very popular within the communities they depicted and are sometimes mentioned as inspirations to modern day rap and hip hop artists.
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