Inside A Thug's Heart
As deceased gangsta rapper Shakur closes in on Jimi Hendrix as the most prolific posthumous recording artist, new books about him proliferate. Ardis, his girlfriend, offers a more-intimate-than-usual perspective, though the acknowledgments may be sounding a note of warning by thanking Tupac's mother, former Black Panther Afeni Shakur, for "allowing this book to see the light of day." Given her efforts to control her son's legacy, this suggests that the contents of this peek inside Tupac's emotional life may be somewhat constrained, and its judgments, softened. Ardis is breezy and competent, and Tupac's letters and poems to her, presented as facsimiles of the originals, show that, even when writing a loved one, his style was much like his lyrics. The book delivers insight into Tupac's private thoughts and evidence that even a successful rapper with "thug life" tattooed on his body had gentle and introspective feelings as well as smoldering resentment and rage. Good fan stuff, a primary resource for things 2pak, and a likely circulation builder for hip-hop-intensive collections.Mike TribbyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved