| Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Sanyika Shakur |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Memoir |
| Publisher | Grove Atlantic Books Penguin Books (original trade paperback publication) |
| Publication date | May 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover Trade paperback) |
| ISBN | 9780871135353 (hardcover) 9780140232257 (original trade paperback) 9780802141446 (trade paperback reprint) |
| Dewey Decimal | 364.1/092 B 21 |
| LC Classification | HV6439.U7 L774 1993 |
| Followed by | T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. (2008) |
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member is a memoir about gang life written in prison by Sanyika Shakur.
In 1992 at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Morgan Entrekin, publisher of Grove Atlantic Inc., announced that he had acquired world publication rights to Shakur's memoir, setting off a storm of interest in the book as an authentic document of the urban African-American experience. A convention-goer from Sweden was quoted as saying: "We see so much of the violence of the American inner city; now here's a voice that comes from inside that can explain it to us." The rights to publish in at least seven foreign countries were quickly sold.[1]
It was published to mostly positive critical reception. Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times Book Review praised Shakur's "quick, matter-of-fact prose" and wrote that his violent life was "memorably depicted."[2][3]