Books : Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse

Rating: - Excellent book.
If you have any interest in Hip Hop then this is an essential read for you. I do not agree with reviewers who found it condescending or parasitical. The author is a Jewish guy from Canada but that does not exclude him from writing such a book; he never hides who he is, he was the one who spent five years researching and writing it, and got it published, so more power to him. If you read it it appears that he did not decide to write such a book and then set out to use people to do so, rather that the book wrote itself through him having had interesting experiences through his involvement in Hip Hop, that he rightly put down on paper to share with others. It is a true life gripping account of the runnings of a Brooklyn street crew called The Franklin Avenue Posse, loosley associated with rap group Black Moon. It is full of great anecdotes and is well written. It will be of interest to readers of such magazines as Felon, Feds and Don Diva. It ranks up with William Shaw's "Westsiders", a similar excellent book about real life musicians on the fringes of the LA Hip Hop scene.

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Rating: - Condescending and disappointing
The previous reviewer who said this book is condescending hits it right on the head. Century thinks that by hanging around these guys, and having a black girlfriend, he is now one of them. He even comments on how when he is out with the crew, people would get out of his way, like he was now suddenly a tough guy. His girlfriend said it best (I don't have the exact quote but can remember it pretty good) "You can go to all the reggae parties and hip-hop clubs you want, you'll still be a white Jewish guy from Canada!"

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Rating: - my pet monster
this book came across as very condescending of the main character by the author. century came across to me as a parasitical tick waiting for his mealticket to die or go to jail, in order to profit off him. other than that it was easy reading and i'll read his other books.

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Rating: - Great Book
I ran across this book at the local library. Very interesting read. I wish he'd write a follow up to let us know what happened to all of these people. Life on the streets that isn't a reality to most of us and a scary reality to those who it is real to. 5 stars.

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Rating: - blazin'!
This was a great read! It's packed with details and stories about the ruffneck guys who populate the Boro of Brooklyn. Awesome!