Monster

‘The story of one man’s painful spiritual journey from violence toward transcendence … attests not only to Shakur’s journalistic eye for observation, but also to his novelistic skills as a storyteller, an ear for street language that is as perfectly pitched as Richard Price’s, a feeling for character and status potentially as rich as Tom Wolfe’s. This is a startling and galvanic book.’ - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times‘Unquestionably one of the most disturbingly authentic triumphs of the human spirit ever executed in print.’ - Los Angeles Times’[An] electrifying life story: an angry, stunningly violent odyssey through gang warfare and prison to redemption.’ - Kirkus Reviews‘A compelling and frightening, bizarre, yet insightful insider’s look at the society that spawned gangs and the gang’s violent retaliation within it.’ - Quarterly Black Review of Books

Sanyika Shakur, aka Kody Scott, was born in 1963 and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. He was the author of Monster and T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. He died in June 2021.