Monster

I just finished reading the book Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, and I’m glad I did. Finish it, I mean.

Monster Kody Scott is recruited into a gang (the Crips) when he’s 11 and he mostly describes in his book how that went and how they “dropped bodies”, i.e. murdered people. Mostly other gang members. Often times he compares his gang activities to the Vietnam war or his gang to the military, and while at maybe two places he hints at feeling a slight bit of remorse for murdering people, in general he glorified gangs more than anything else.

He writes about time spent in jail. At some point, I got the idea that he wanted to be seen as a morally superior guy for the fact that he kept one of his cell mates from sodomizing the other one, although he silently tolerated all the torture he had put him through before that (severly beating him, peeing on him, making him eat soap, etc.) Yeah, wow, what a great guy you are, Kody.

In the end he meets a Muslim in prison who tells him that “New Africans” should stick together and fight against the white oppression and so forth, and again I thought to myself what a moron Kody is to listen to that guy’s reasoning. Sure, I do believe that blacks still get discriminated against in the US and I’m strongly against discrimination. But this guy’s reasoning was that “human” has the word “hue” in it, which means colored, and so only colored people are real people. White people mutated, degenerated, and they’re just a “kind of man”, a.k.a. as “mankind”. O-kay, whatever gets the gangster off the streets, I guess… I’d like to hear his reasoning in German, though.

So, the book got on my nerves and Kody Scott’s writing got on my nerves and his reasoning and justifications and so forth. I do not recommend this book.

29 Replies to “Monster”

  1. I just finished reading this book as well and was interested to learn that even Lil Monster is fed up with Kody Scott or whatever his name is this week. Kody Scott blames everyon on his predicament except for Kody Scott. The man murdered countless people, he deserves to be in prison for life. How is that the white man’s fault?

    After he got out of jail? Well he went back to jail many more times. For drug possession and parole violations and for being a fugitive from justice. From what I’ve been able to gather, he wants more book and movie deals and is pleased to be “Monster”. He’s no more revolutionary than you or I.

    If Kody Scott really cared about his people, he’d do what his little brother does. Stop glorifying the prison and gansta life. Stop getting into trouble. Stop blaming the white man. Move far away from the hood, get a job and speak to other kids about what happens when you get involved with get banging. Kody won’t do that though, they’re making a movie about him and he’s basking in the glory. He was arrested while standing on a corner signing autographs.

    What Kody is doing is showing bangers theres glory in gangbanging and it’s worth all the blood on his hands.

  2. Now they’re making a movie about him? Geez. Well, I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.

    I thought for a moment there was hope for Kody Scott when he indeed got a job and cared for his family and all that. I thought he finally realized what he had to do. But no, then he suddenly writes he had to go back to prison because he attacked a drug dealer. He wasn’t remorseful, of course, after all he had to do it because the evil white police won’t take care of those evil drug dealers.

    Geez.

  3. I thought the book was interesting. I have grown up my entire life aware of the gang boundaries. However I have never really understood the why about it all. What is the point? I thought the writing actually flowed very well. He was able to bring the reader into his world. By the time I finished it, though, I was highly disappointed. He went from hating and murdering one group of people to hating another group. Not only that, but he can’t even keep himself out of jail. What happened to his “concern” about being a father to his children? I have heard stories of so many other “gangbangers” who really turned their lives around and have worked to do good for the ENTIRE populace, not just one race. He seems to be just as hateful, and aggressive now as he was at 11. Not only that, but he is taking a (arguably) peaceful religion and twisting it around to feed his needs. The book was well worth my time from an American History point of view – after all, it is part of our history. I would recommend it with a warning of not to expect too much out it, otherwise be prepared for disappointment.

  4. Thanks for your comment, alliecat. Maybe you can tell me the names of some of those “gangbangers” that really managed to turn their lives around. Have any of them written any good books about that topic? The topic itself is interesting, after all, it’s just not fun to read about one of them idealizing himself and his gang life although he claims he doesn’t. It would also be interesting to read about programs that actually succeed in getting people out of their gang life. Any suggestions? :)

  5. I think you white people don’t know what the hell he is talking about even after you’ve read the book. How can you relate to the oppression of a black in white america. You can’t and for you to simply dismiss his actions as ignorance is ignorant on your part. Until you have to live in the area where he lived and go through what he and countless others have had to go through I would shut the fuck up for real. Read something thats watered down and fantasy like so you can keep living in your pseudo utopia.

  6. whoa, calm down nazareth…it’s all good. i ran a gang program for years and had the honor of meeting and knowing cody’s wife. i think cody’s book was excellent and at the time he wrote it there wasn’t any kind of understanding of gangs in america. cody gave us insight into it and showed us what caused it and what would cure it. but here we are 15 years later and haven’t learned or changed a thing. our american kids are worth saving… and it doesn’t matter the skin color… i just hate cody is back in trouble. such a trouble heart but i send him much love and thank him he for giving us the answers… but we don’t even know he did. shame on us!!!

  7. Well, nazareth, you’re right, I don’t know what it’s like to grow up as a black man in America. For that matter, I don’t even know what it’s like to grow up as a white man in America.
    I’m not judging Kody for getting into a gang and maybe I’m not even judging him that much for all his violent actions. If that’s how you grow up and what you’re surrounded with, maybe it does become natural for you? But why write a book that supposedly tells you how much you changed when really you didn’t. Also, if I may use a (way too) easy comparison, if I went into someones home and smashed their expensive TV on purpose and refused to, say, pay for it or get them a new one, could I really be mad if that person came to my home to smash my TV in return? It’s a stupid way to solve the problem, but I just think I shouldn’t be terribly enraged about it.
    I detest any form of discrimination and to me, the color of someone’s skin doesn’t make them better or worse than anyone else. I don’t judge anyone by what color their skin has, what their ethnicity is. As far as I’m concerned, I care more about what music, books and music they like and whether they’re good to talk to and such. Which, by the way, makes Kody different from me, because he thinks that black people are superior to white people and white people are just a mutation. But either way, it simply bothers me that he pretends that he has been changed for the better and yet he still goes out and glorifies gang life.

  8. Hi Vannade, Ive also read the book on Monster and I really enjoyed it wheather I agree with his views or not I still enjoyed it. My point is you cant judge a book on whether you like the person or not, its still a good book although I dont agree with everything he has said or done its still a good book and you clearly took his views personally. I recommend this this book 10/10.

  9. i read this book and i don’t think you get it, this seems to me its more about raising awarness on what it is like as a gangster and as a man who is one of the opressed, it even states “look then , if your dare, at south central through the eyes if ibe if the most notorious ghetto stars and the architect of the most ghastly gang army,the crips”

    if you don’t like my veiws and my spelling and want to tell me, Hippyboy05@hotmail.com is the email so if i wana disrespect there u go. age 15;)

  10. I just finished reading Monster and I though I was taken aback by violence, I felt the need to look deeper within the text. It has been my understanding that in order to invoke change one has to be willing to swim deeper to levels of unconsciousness. This book is not about Kody’s life after the publication of this book but, yet about a former gangbanger telling you how he became to be this way and what were the factors that led him to murder other black people. Though you may not agree with everything Kodi says are does, I certainly don’t, what I chose to take from this look into his life was the uncompromised positions that the police put these young black uneducated boys in. Why isnt anyone talking about WHY the police told Kody where his”enemies” were, WHY the police purposely hit black men in their privates, WHY the police referred to them as niggers (when they are supposedly professional protectors of all people)…Given this type of surface reading only lets me know that this problem will continue to exist until oppression ends. Some of you (Vanna) say that it’s not a race issue but, I disagree, black people are always going to be considered inferior which creates anger that leads to violence, and this is going to be the case until you begin to take the color blinders off! Ask questions about your great-great grandfathers and find out how similar their stories are to Kodi’s, then look around at the trust funds and savings accounts,etc.. that our ancestors worked hard for and then ask yourself who continues to benefit and who continues to suffer? Since you are so interested in protraying this genuine love for all people regardless of race why don’t you do something about oppression besides talking about the surface issues. Next time you read a book, take the author out of it and focus on the issues, then do something with what you discover besides criticize, but that’s all oppressors know how to do–criticize!

  11. @Mj: Hey there, thanks for your comment. I seems I’m in the minority with my dislike for the book, and you probably do have a point. The police did not treat Kody fairly and some of them were quite racist, according to Kody’s description.

    I don’t blame Kody for wanting to be in a gang and for becoming part of a gang. He described that part fairly well, about how it really wasn’t much of a choice. And sure, if he had grown up in a (white?) privileged family, his life would’ve been very different.
    I’m just saying what bothered me about this book is that he kind of expresses that he has changed and he is very different now when he really hasn’t changed much at all. He’s also mad at the police for locking him up for killing people, and I’m just saying, if you kill someone, it’s kind of expected that you’ll be locked up.

    But I suppose you’re all right and I should look at this book more of a description of how gangs work and how people get in them and what it does to them rather than to see it as a description of how great Monster Kody is.

    I don’t agree with you calling me an oppressor because I’ve never oppressed anyone in my life. In my humble opinion, calling someone an oppressor because they are Caucasian is like calling someone a criminal because they’re not Caucasian.

    Regardless, if you’d like to suggest HOW I can do something against oppression, I’ll definitely consider it. :)

  12. i dont know what your talking about…this is the single greatest book ive ever read. okay so scott made some mistakes, but its not a goofy little short story. its an autobiography. its written from his pov how he saw things around him. i strongly recommend this book. and if you think hes a moron, youre an even bigger moron. im sure if you grew up in south central these things wouldnt seem so terrible.

  13. @Alex: I agree with you: I don’t know what you’re talking about either. ;) To each their own, I guess.

  14. This book was poorly written and offered no insight into ghetto life or the black experience in America. To mention it in the same paragraph as the “Autobiography of Malcolm X” or “Soul on Ice” is ludicrous.
    This is about killing without reason or remorse.
    Mr Scott lacks any literary talent-the device of overstand for understand is sheer annoyance and juvenile in the extreme.
    His pseudo political conversion reveals his inability to think for himself.
    Anyone who thinks he is an authentic voice needs to re read the book and identify even one instance of gender struggle, housing issues, job security and/or health care. Raised by a single mother, he never addresses the pain she suffered or the strength she showed. His girlfriends are described only in relation to his needs. And very marginally at that.
    Self pity is the most destructive emotion and Mr. Scott revels in it.
    The immature and guilt ridden might enjoy this book but it’s certainly not for anyone able to think for themselves or anyone who has overcome true oppression.

  15. H3LLO MY COMMENT TO YOU IS THAT I FINISHD READING THE BOOK MONSTER YOU DONT KNOW HOW MUCH I FELL IN LOVE WIT THE BOOK I WANT TO GET TO MEET SANYIKA SHAKUR IN PERSON SIMPLY BECAUSE HE CANT TRAVEL AND I WANT TO ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS. I KNOW THAT SO FAR HES BEEN OUT OF JAIL 26 TIMES I JUST WONDER IF HE THINKS OF ANYTHING OUTSIDE THE BOX HE HAS A FAMILY AND I JUST WONDER THAT IF HE CAME OUT ONCE AGAIN WILL HE KEEP DOING BAD THINGS AND GO BACK IN? I THINK THIS IS A GREAT BOOK THE FIRST BOOK I READ AND I GOT REALLY INTO FOR NO REASON I WANTED TO LET THAT BOOK GO BUT IN OUR SCHOOL CENTAL HIGH OUR TEACHER IN ENGLISH CLASS TEACHES ABOUT THAT BOOK AND HOW WE SHOULD NOT BE INVOLVE IN GANGS BECAUSE THEY BRING BAD THINGS I JUST WONDER WHAT GOES IN HIS MIND. TO SAY ONE TRUTH I SAY THAT KODY SCOTT IS MY HERO! I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS BOOK AND THE WAY HE WOULD SAY THINGS. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS HIM AND NO ONE WILL HE HAS REASONS AND WHAT I SAY IS THAT NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO JUDGE HIM. HE OPEND MY EYES AND FOR THAT I THANK HIM.

  16. Hey, readers from South Central, just listen to this: The corruption of the American police doesn’t automatically make Monsterkodiscottnotthetupacbutstillshakur the good guy by default.

    This guy has no ethics whatsoever, and all the “white oppresion” bullshit is just a way to rationalize his violent behavior. “Whitey forced me to do it!”

    I like how he becomes “respectable” and then he beats some guy and steals his van “because he was a drug dealer”. Bullshit! Even if it’s true, it’s still vigilantism, and he’s not a moral beacon: he grew up with no morals, and his view of right or wrong is seriously distorted.

    Thousand Names Scott is morally bankrupt. He is a self-righteous blowhard, but he didn’t really do anything that can be described as “right” in the whole book. Even his unspiritual view of religion as just a way to propagate hate politics is an offence to any religious person.

    The whole point you are missing is that he didn’t change at all: He admits he just decided he didn’t want to return to jail, and that’s it. FUCK THIS GUY.

    IHNBAIMS

    PS – mistridann1, I love your great insights even if they are not clever enough 0/10.

  17. this book was sick so fuck all of you i fucing like it lets see any of you go through what he did and then say his book sucked all you fucking suck bitches

  18. @blake: Wow, you really know how to express yourself well. I’m sure if you wrote a book, it’d be every bit as good as “Monster” was. :D

  19. I just finished reading the book Monster and it was truly the best and most informative two days that I have ever spent reading. I must admit that I was hoping that he would have converted to Islam and not returned to jail. But let’s get real he never promised us a love story with a happy ending. The blurb on the back stated that it was the autobiography of a notorious crip gang member. Some people’s lives are just tragic like that. I am a teacher and the mother of two teenage children being raised in an area over run by blood gang members.I have seen these young children in my neighborhood grow up and the vast majority of them become gang members. I could never understand the appeal that it held until Sanyika Shakur explained it to me in his terms by allowing me into his word to live vicariously through his eyes. I’ve often wondered why children in the ghetto would write graffiti and disfigure the walls of where they have to live and now I know.
    For those of you that didn’t like the book, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It was an autobiography not of a politician, president or priest. He never tried to make himself out to be the pope and he never said he transformed into a goody two shoes.He grew up and started to think more like a grown man. Let’s wake up America and realize that all of the violence that we let our children overdose on will one day desensitize them.It will turn them into Monsters. I applaud Kody for educating himself.All my love goes out to him and his family.I just hope one day he can find love in his heart and let it come out. Peace

  20. I just finished reading this book, and have decided that i wish i was a mutha fucked gangbanger

  21. I JUST FINISHED READING THE BOOK “MONSTER”. I DID ENJOY IT. DO HE ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT HE PUT HIS POOR MOTHER THOUGH? WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE HE KILLED? DID HE EVER GET A GOOD NITE SLEEP WITH ALL THAT BLOOD ON HIS HANDS? AND THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THAT AREA. I WOULD BE SCARED EVERYDAY TO WALK OUT OF THE DOOR. I WAS ASHAMED TO HEAR THAT HE WENT BACK TO PRISON LAST YEAR. I WAS HOPING THAT HE WOULD CHANGE HIS LIFE AROUND BEING THAT HE HAS KIDS OF HIS OWN. I AM SO PROUD OF HIS BROTHER KERSHAUN. THAT IS ONE MAN THAT HAS DID A BIG CHANGE. THIS BOOK HAS SHOWED ME THE TRUE MEANING OF GANGBANGING. I HOPE MY BROTHERS AND SISTER GET IT TOGETHER SOON THEIR IS NO HAPPENESS IN GANGBANGING.

  22. I read the book many years ago while i was in college. I also grew up in the “hood, have a brother that was a gang member-for life, and I know Mr. Scott’s family personally. First let me say that no child starts out wanting to be a gang member. All children are the same- innocent. Many children growing up in america fall through the cracks. When these kids fall behind in school, start a path of failure and hopelessness and come from from broken homes the streets are waiting for them. The streets are their new america, for all who cant make it in our world…Then they begin a new education that teaches take what you want by any means. These kids grow up and turn into monsters. Many you will never hear from because they are already dead, stuck away in prisons for the rest of their lives, or drug addicts. So here is a horror story from one of these so-called “monsters.” And, yes I’m sure the lives he took, the absence of his father or the times he was almost murdered, or seeing his friends die, and the pain he caused his family and others dont help him sleep at night, but to see a person go from that life to writing a best selling book is shocking. He has accomplishments and failures, and growth issues like we all do. Perfection? Dont fool yourself. He has spent most of his life in the most vicious prisons doing hard time. Some people will hate him because despite the terrible things he has done, being locked up, and yet he still wrote a book and they are making a movie about him simply makes people reflect on their inability to find their own success insane. This country let a little black boy fall throught the cracks, blamed him cause the streets educated him, turned him into a monster, sent him to prison and still he found a way to become successful at something-writing. Its hard to change insitutionalized prison mentallity, maybe one day he will make it out or maybe he wont but, he made his mark on our american history nevertheless and in the end God will judge him….he is this country the good bad and ugly all rolled up in one trying to find a better way…

  23. Monster Kody is my worst enemy i used to hate his gang and everytime we saw them we would try to kill them. I only blame me for the dumb things i’ve done. I’m from Westside Rollin 60 Crip gang. I did time at 14 and did a lot of reading while i was in jail. Now at 28 i talk to gangs and show them life is short and love to live life. You don’t want to grow in a cell. I love the book it’s a great book. This book can teach mothers and fathers the signs of what your child is doing. That gang stuff is stupid. People that have nothing to do with gangs are dying at young ages. One thing people have to understand about kody is he is a mark man. In this gang life the past can come back to hunt you. If a 14 year old banger saw kody today in L.A he would kill him. Having the reputation for killing Monster Kody would give him John gotti respect. Don’t judge a person unless you walk their shoes. Blacks need to stop with this white people being the blame for everything. They don’t tell us to go out and kill eachother because you live on 83rd st and i live in the Rollin 60 hood. Live life and grow old with your kids. What Kody needs to do is have a peace treaty with the 60’s and a lot of the gang killin’s would stop.
    Used to hate your hood kody but now much love peace and let’s have fun tell we die.

  24. If you want the solution, make some of these gangbangers join the military, encourage young warriors to enlist.

    And of course the government must do a much better job taking care of veterans. In my opinion its better to enlist and defend the entire country, than to join a gang and defend some turf you’ll never really own anyway.

    If you look closely, this gang problem came about after the 60s and the Vietnam era, when the draft was abolished an entire generation of warriors had no generals to guide them. The government turned their backs on the warrior caste in inner cities, and offered little to no opportunity for advancement in civilian society.

    At the same time society rewarded drug dealers with unlimited wealth and social advancement, and someone (I wont name who), made sure the guns were in the hands of teenagers while also forcing gun control on ordinary citizens, this completely changed the power dynamic in such a way that elders had to listen to children who have better firepower.

    Look, you don’t have to listen to my suggestions, but in my opinion if you are raising a boy in this environment, you should encourage the boy to either join the military, the police force, or go to college, depending on the boys attitude. If the boy wants to be a gangster, he’d have a better chance of survival in Iraq, at least he’d get trained and be given good weapons.

    If he wants to protect and defend his community, he can legally carry a gun as a police officer and do just that. If Kody Scott wanted to defend his community, somebody should have talked him into becoming a police officer instead of a street gang member. He’d have been able to legally carry a gun and arrest drug dealers. And even if he didn’t want to be a cop, at least with military training he’d have an officer above him who wouldn’t let him break rank.

  25. MJ I read your comments in specific. The police aren’t the enemy anymore, sure back then black individuals such as Kody Scott probably would have faced a racist reaction if they tried to join the police.

    It’s 2008, you can become the police you fear and police your own community, legally, if you know how to start a private police firm or private security firm, if you know how to go to the police academy to get training, if you go to Iraq and train, yes you can make money doing private security now.

    Kody Scott could have started a private community oriented policing company, he could have charged the community members a fee, the individuals in his firm should all be off duty or retired cops, not gangsters. Look, if he wants to be loyal to a set, I can understand all of this, but Kody Scott has to learn to wear different hats and different uniforms for different missions. You cannot wear the same uniform to every mission and not expect to go to prison.

    Sometimes you have to be a cop, another time a business owner, another time a lawyer, there is an unlimited number of outfits and hats, an unlimited number of ways of accomplishing a goal, he just wasn’t thinking.

  26. Monsta, this is directed to you, please tell the youth that there is an unlimited number of ways to make it, and an unlimited number of ways to accomplish a goal, and sometimes you can more efficiently complete a mission non violently than you can by being violent.

    Whatever the goal, mission, or task is, you can sometimes use social engineering(hacking), you can sometimes use disinformation (lying to people who should be lied to), you can approach a problem from different angles, under different costumes, through different people.

    Youth today think the only solution to their problems is to kill it. Sure that’s the quick and simple solution to any problem, but that solution is not very efficient because if someone dies it’s going to be noticed by society. However if someone convinced in other ways, there is no investigation at all.

    Most importantly, a lot of the methods of influencing people, or even of dealing with and solving problems, are completely legal and involve having and using information in the right way, or approaching people in the right costume.

    The problem I have with Kody’s book, while very well written, it seems to be low on solutions and all about marketing. Reputation is not what it’s all about, while reputation does win respect, it can also win enemies, because like you said, every action provokes reaction.

    If it’s about social status, the best reputation to have is to be a person who become rich, while at the same time looking good, and not having had to kill folks. Not having to get your hands dirty however is not the same thing as being weak, it’s just a matter of staying out of prison. P. Diddy is a great example, he is rich, successful, he does not get his hands dirty, but I’m sure he has people around him who do get their hands dirty, and these people are his private security/private army. Kody Scott would have been great for security, to protect people who need to be protected, now he’s in prison.

  27. blaque, Capitalism shows us that God helps those who help themselves. It’s true that you have to take what you want if you are going to get anything, the problem with young people is they think the only way to take is by physical force. They don’t have an understanding of the mechanics of social engineering.

    You can get what you want 90% of the time with just words. The other 5% with deals, promises(which you must always keep), and the remaining 4% from threats, only 1% of situations would require the use of force, and thats when all other methods have failed to produce the desired results.

    Since you have practically endless means and methods at you disposal, you can just go down the list trying each one, and probably will never face a situation where violence is the only answer. The only situation I can think of when violence is the only answer is when someone approaches you violently, basically waiving all their rights of non-violence.

  28. what most of you people missed was the fact that this kid at a time in his life where any one he looked up to he was going to follow like an older brother. he fell into his set and respected it like his family. sure his decisinons were not right, but he was never taught any other way. and he did show thanks for his mom and couldnt believe she put up with all the shit she did! so all those people out there that think he didnt change or put his blame off on everyone else walk in his shoes for one day the shit he had to go through and then voice your ignorant opinion. i strongly respect this man for the things he has accomplished murdering people is never right but if someone killed a close family member of yours would you fight back or just blow it off and say o’well?

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