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Tattoos on My Soul: From the Ghetto to the Top of the World
by Burrel Lee Wilks
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Burrel Streetwise (2006-04-01)
ISBN: 0976873605
EAN: 9780976873600
Dewy Decimal #: 364.1092
Hardcover: 205 pages
SKU: 08060005
Condition: New Like New
Comments: Hardcover. Like new cover and text. Like new dust jacket with very minor shelfwear. Near Fine condition. Beautiful book.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Looking into the head and heart of a man who rose above a life of narcotics, violence, and fast money to become someone with his own voice and dreams, this memoir humanizes the dilemma many youngsters face today and underscores the role the streets play as both proving ground and educational institution. By the age of 9, Buddy Burrel was a millionaire with his own flourishing crime empire, having followed in the footsteps of his iron-willed, often-brutal father, a West-Side Chicago kingpin. A gang chief in the powerful Vice Lords family at the age of 11, Burrel attracted the attention of Tony "Big Tuna" Accardo, an infamous boss of the Chicago outfit, under whose tutelage he rose to become a serious player at the age of 16. Yet after realizing he had the wherewithal to lead a different life, Burrel turned from ghetto grit—his father's house, the gangs, the hard drugs, and the streets—to glitz and glamour. Immersed in a world of coast-to-coast living, golf, gambling, and entrepreneurism, populated with idiosyncratic characters and underscored by a painful emotional awakening, he eventually broke away from the dark side with his spirit, heart, and hopefulness intact.
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Customer Reviews
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Power
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-06-02
This is a good book that tells a powerful story.
If the American Gangster movie is your forte, this book will be also.
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What an amazing story
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-05-19
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is something else - what a page turner! For me, reading Tattoos had the same effect as going to Vegas - I developed a swagger like an unstoppable VIP, and suddenly, a wallet full of $100 bills didn't seem like an impossible goal. For those who commented that some of the stories are unbelievable, open your eyes: this kind of money exchanges hands in legal and illegal enterprises every day. Burrel has given us a rare glimpse into the world of big thinkers. Okay, sure, it's the literary version of a daredevil's televised stunt: kids, don't try this at home. But I think he does a good job of explaining WHY the gangsta life is ultimately self-defeating. Bravo!
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REAL TATTOOS
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-11-10
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
It's raw reality, hard to swallow-but still true! He shows the glamour and the seduction of a successful gang leader, but as you keep on reading, he makes clear how shallow, empty and lifeless was his life. How easy to get in and how hard to get out! It trilled me to follow the thoughts that would lead him to get out of it all. Finally, he ends up giving it back - a confession to inspire personal growth without being a self-help book.
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So true and so powerful!
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-11-08
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
The first thing that called my attention was the book's title. I got totally hooked on this true story of a man who survived the best and the worst - many times in the same day. Burrel's story stood up to the powerful title. His character, his persona, his friends jump out of the page from beginning to end. I was very impressed that he had courage and determination not only to get out of the thug-business, but also to tell everything to the public. It's a story of survival indeed. Told by a man who has been there, seen that, done that. And that's one of the reasons that Burrel has the authority to talk about crime, drugs and the worst of the world with clarity and knowledge to people around the world - not just ghettos.
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A waste of money
Rating  (1)
Date: 2006-11-03
2 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
This ghetto dude glorifies a life of pimpin,druggin,and other illicit business's he spends about 2 pages in the book talking about his so called new profession as a life coach and mentor. I saw him on the news show fox thing in the morning in chicago and from the title of the book and his so called conversion from being a thug to being an honest businessman made me want to support the brother, but after reading this book I wished I had saved my money!
I get the impression he is still probebly doing stuff that is illegal and his story is not one I would want my children or anyone I know imulating! Life Coach? Pulezze! There are alot of hardworking folks who grew up poor and made it without all of the activities he is glorifying in this book. This book is a waste of money!
artj
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