Pimp
This is the story of Iceberg Slim's life, as he saw, felt, tasted, and smelled it. A trip through hell by the one man who lived to tell the tale. The dangers of jail, addiction and death that are still all too familiar.
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5recommend
5mentions
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2014–2026years
100% recommend
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What Hacker News says
- I recommend you read the book "Pimp" by Iceberg Slim, about a Black America in the early/mid 20th century.
Personally speaking, I found the book very 'awe-inspiring'/it made me go 'wow' a bunch, because I found the author's experience so completely different from my own :)
- I recommend the autobiographical, category defining book on street work - Pimp: The Story of My Life by Iceberg Slim. [0]
It’s dystopian and might be a hard read for some of you, but it might rectify a lot of the idealistic visions of what this work looks like.
It’s violence and predation all the way up and down. It’s hard to see how California isn’t failing the people and communities it claims to stand up for.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Pimp-Story-Life-Iceberg-Slim/dp/14516...
Read the “popular highlights” for a quick introduction.
- 1. How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling, Bettger
A good intro to sales, and a very good book on self-development.
2. When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management, Lowenstein
A story about LTCM, one of the early and most notorious "quant" hedge funds. A cheeky nod to intellectualism.
3. Liar's Poker, Lewis
Investment banking through a trader's eyes. Yes, the absurdity is only partly dramatized.
4. Pimp: The Story of My Life, Iceberg Slim
No pithy blurb can summarize this; read it if you want a look into human nature.
5. The Six-Month Fix: Adventures in Rescuing Failing Companies, Sutton
Written by a friend and a mentor; may he rest. Gives you a sobering account of what really goes behind the scenes of many companies, along with their management.
Apologies; I know this list isn't focused on more humbling professions like the examples you gave.
- Pimp: Story Of My Life written by Iceberg Slim. Learned about it from the latest Chappelle standup special. Very dark and fascinating tale of a pimp in the 1940's. A lot of cold, calculating capitalist ideas abound in it.
Also just started Astrobiology: A Short Introduction which was recommended by a fellow HNer.
- > despite being one of the few jobs that lets workers can seize control of their own working conditions and avoid the kind of capitalist abuses this article talks about.
The vast majority of prostitutes can no more choose their own working conditions than any other working stiff. Pushed out onto the streets by poverty, prey to sociopathic men, the average prostitute is mired in a dangerous, destructive, difficult-to-escape lifestyle that destroys her health and vitality.
The recent move towards Internet-enabled prostitution that empowers the working girl is very much an aberration. For an introduction to this topic, pick up Iceberg Slim's Pimp.
http://www.amazon.com/Pimp-Story-Life-Iceberg-Slim-ebook/dp/...
