Iceberg Slim

“[In Pimp], Iceberg Slim breaks down some of the coldest, capitalist concepts I’ve ever heard in my life.” —Dave Chappelle, from his Nextflix special The Bird Revelation Pimp sent shockwaves throughout the literary world when it published in 1969. Iceberg Slim’s autobiographical novel offered readers a never-before-seen account of the sex trade, and an unforgettable look at the mores of Chicago’s street life during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. In the preface, Slim says it best, “In this book, I will take you, the reader, with me into the secret inner world of the pimp.” An immersive experience unlike anything before it, Pimp would go on to sell millions of copies, with translations throughout the world. And it would have a profound impact upon generations of writers, entertainers, and filmmakers, making it the classic hustler’s tale that never seems to go out of style.

Iceberg Slim the pimp (aka Robert Beck the writer) tells the true story of his life in the underworld during the thirties and forties, a life of petty triumphs and real fears in the mean streets of Chicago.

The author that brought black literature to the streets is back. Weaving stories of deceit, sex, humor, and race, bestselling author Iceberg Slim brings us the story of a hustler who doesn’t just play the con game, he transforms it. This is the gritty truth, the life of a hustler in south side Chicago where the only characters are those who con and those who get conned. Trick Baby tells the story of “White Folks,” a blue-eyed, light-haired, con artist whose pale skin allows him to pass in the streets as a white man. Folks is tormented early in life, rejected by other children and branded a “Trick Baby,” the child conceived between a hooker and her trick. Refusing to abandon his life in the ghetto and a chance at revenge, Folks is taken under the wing of an older mentor, Blue. What happens next is not to be believed. 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.

Straight from the source: Iceberg Slim gives unprecedented insight into his incredible life and mind in this second collection of rare, explicit, interviews. Iceberg Slim is infamous as a pimp. But he was many things: Victim of childhood abuse, racism and the Great Depression; drug addict; hustler; prison escapee; multi-million book selling author; one of the first rap record artists; orator; pre-eminent writer; father; husband; advocate of socially constructive life. The interviews (big topics from applying the game in square relationships, to the con game, sex, drugs, education, writing, racial issues, fatherhood, politics, crime and punishment) are complimented by: Camille Beck's tragic story, told by her sister Misty; FBI records, mug shots, historical records; the true story of Baby Bell and Sweet Jones; and the true story of Henry and Iceberg's mother. Revealing insights with those who knew Iceberg Slim are included: Mike Tyson; Camille and Misty Beck; Diane Beck; Betty Beck's story from the day she met Iceberg; Bentley Morriss (CEO, Holloway House Publishing). Plus Ice-T, Bishop Don Magic Juan and others provide relevant commentary on Iceberg's life, work and great legacy.

The first and definitive biography of one of America's bestselling, notorious, and influential writers of the twentieth century: Iceberg Slim, né Robert Beck, author of the multimillion-copy memoir Pimp and such equally popular novels as Trick Baby and Mama Black Widow. From a career as a, yes, ruthless pimp in the '40s and '50s, Iceberg Slim refashioned himself as the first and still the greatest of "street lit" masters, whose vivid books have made him an icon to such rappers as Ice-T, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg and a presiding spirit of "blaxploitation" culture. You can't understand contemporary black (and even American) culture without reckoning with Iceberg Slim and his many acolytes and imitators. Literature professor Justin Gifford has been researching the life and work of Robert Beck for a decade, culminating in Street Poison, a colorful and compassionate biography of one of the most complicated figures in twentieth-century literature. Drawing on a wealth of archival material—including FBI files, prison records, and interviews with Beck, his wife, and his daughters—Gifford explores the sexual trauma and racial violence Beck endured that led to his reinvention as Iceberg Slim, one of America's most infamous pimps of the 1940s and '50s. From pimping to penning his profoundly influential confessional autobiography, Pimp, to his involvement in radical politics, Gifford's biography illuminates the life and works of one of American literature's most unique renegades.

"Mama Black Widow" is the nickname of Otis Tilson, a comely and tragic black queen adrift with his brothers and sisters in the dark ghetto world of pimpdom and violent crime. His story is told in the gut-level language of the homosexual underworld--an unforgettable testament of life lived on the margins of a racist and predatory urban hell.

In “The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim,” the fierce and lyrical icon for criminal reformation describes himself as “ill…from America’s fake façade of justice and democracy.” For Iceberg, the illness may have been a detriment, but for us, it’s a gift. His tales 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 “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.

Robert Beck, better known as Iceberg Slim, was an American pimp who subsequently became an influential author among a primarily African-American readership. Beck's novels were adapted into movies, and the imagery and tone of Beck's fiction have been acknowledged as an influence by several gangsta rap musicians, including Ice T and Ice Cube, whose names are homages to Beck.