This gave him the advantage to portray the first-hand reality of the underworld that he was once a part of. He was aware of the brutality and the dangers of the underworld of that time. The personal experience of the writer helped him to stay ahead of his contemporary writers.

Satin, the notorious drug dealer of that time became Glass Top. One instance was his pimp friend who was turned into Sweet Jones from Baby Bells. He wrote this as an autobiographical novel so he was able to change the names of his friends that are mentioned as most of them were still alive at that time. The thing that was best about this book was he never tried to glamorize his past or his profession. His first book ‘Pimp’ was published in the year 1967. He was 72 at the time of his death with diabetes and liver failure being revealed as the cause of his death. The film was directed by Larry Yust and went on to collect a whopping $11,000,000 at the US box office. His second novel, Trick Baby, was also turned into a film. The documentary showed the journey of the writer from a pimp in Chicago to the writer of seven novels that have sold worldwide. The documentary was named “Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp”. His autobiographical novel ‘Pimp’ inspired a documentary in the year 2012. With sales figures over two million copies sold, that turned out to be a good decision.īeck inspired many black writers and rappers like Ice T and Ice Cube. At the start, he thought to do it as a collaboration, but he later changed his mind. He changed his name to Robert Beck and started to work as a salesman of insecticide.Īccording to Beck, his wife inspired and encouraged him to write about his life while he liked the idea of writing a novel. She would become his wife and mother of three daughters. He decided to Los Angeles in 1961 and started a new life with Betty Shue. In his autobiography, he has openly admitted that as a pimp he was ruthless and a hard manager.Īfter going to prison and serving for 10 months he realized that he was too old for pimping. His frosty temperament in the business and slim figure earned him the name Iceberg Slim.

The writer got involved in the profession of a pimp at the age of 18.

She gave him almost all the privileges that a middle-class kid would have which was quite rare at that time. He accepted that his mother was strong enough to earn a living for them. After that, he returned to Chicago as his mother thought that it was the best option after his father left them. The writer was born in Chicago and spent his childhood in Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and Illinois. Iceberg Slim and his story had the ability to connect with readers, many of whom are still able to connect with them which is what made Iceberg Slim into an icon. His adventurous journey of life was reflected in his novels. Iceberg Slim, also known as Robert Beck, was born in 1918, on 4th August.

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