The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim: Robert Beck's Real Story

Iceberg Slim

Sept 2013 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Great book with all the descriptive stories just like in "pimp". You can almost feel yourself in Beck's story. This book explores the square side of the game however it's just as raw and gritty as " pimp" . A must for Beck fans.

I enjoyed the shared experience of the transition out of the pimp lifestyle and the greater acknowledgement for racism and it's evolution.

I read this book over 100 time's best book I ever read

About the author

Iceberg Slim, aka Robert Beck, was born in Chicago in 1918 and initiated into the life of the pimp at age eighteen. He briefly attended the Tuskegee Institute but dropped out to return to the streets of the South Side, where he remained, pimping until he was forty-two. After several stints in jail, culminating in a ten month stay in Cook County, he decided to give up the life and turned to writing. With a family to feed, Slim folded his life into the pages of seven books based on his life; The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim was the second autobiographical account Slim wrote. Slim died at age 73 in 1992; one day before the Los Angeles riots.