From Naptown to Tinseltown—legendary stand-up comedian and actor Mike Epps finally tells all in this outrageous, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir. Before starring in Def Comedy Jam and Showtime at the Apollo—before the sold-out comedy shows, Uncle Buck, and becoming his hero Richard Pryor in a biopic—there was Indianapolis. And not the good part. Mike Epps is one of America’s favorite and funniest people, but the path to fame was paved with opportunities to mess it up. And mess it up he did. Growing up in “Naptown”—what people who live there really call rough-around-the-edges Indianapolis—Epps found himself forced to hustle from an early age. Despite his mother’s best efforts, and the love of his well-behaved brother, “Chaney,” and his beloved sister, Julie, Epps was drawn to a life of crime, but as he quickly discovered, stealing and dealing didn’t really fit his sweet sensibilities. Not to mention he wasn’t very good at it—take, for example, the day he had to call the cops on himself when a dog wouldn’t let him leave a house he was burgling. After several arrests and more than a few months in jail, Epps finally realized that he was an unsuccessful thug, and instead turned to the next most obvious career path: stand-up comedy. Heading first to New York, then all over the country, and finally to Hollywood, Mike Epps carved out a unique place in American comedy, combining hysterical tales of his family and friends with a mordant take on life in the Naptowns of America. Comedy saved Mike Epps, and here he reveals exactly how he finally grew up and got out, barely. And when describing how he survived when so many of his friends didn’t, Epps makes clear what he’s thankful for and sorry about. Unsuccessful Thug is about growing up black in America, facing down racism in Hollywood, and ultimately how it feels to fail at thugdom, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and end up selling out arenas and starring in movies across the country.

This book is written for the young and hopeless, for the misguided, misled, misunderstanding, and misunderstood. It's a book of growth to promote growing. A book to reveal that someone understands, can relate, and cares. This book is written out of love and by faith. It's inspired by life and the discovery of the power of choice to shape that life. It's about choosing to know, love, and be yourself. Being a thug or a man is about accepting your humanity, mortality, and individuality; and respecting your own mind enough to trust that you are perfect. Acknowledging, accepting, and respecting that you are always a work in progress serves as a revelation into so much more. It ain't gotta be the way it is, but it is what it is until you choose to do and be different. This book is written with the hope to give both thuggin' and manhood a broader perspective. The hope that we will discontinue the traditional trade of innocence for ignorance. The aim of this book is to break one cycle and begin another more constructive one.

Justify My Thug is a story of intersecting lives, featuring familiar characters from Wahida Clark's Thug series. Trae and Tasha Macklin's marriage is on thin ice. Jaz and Faheem were living the American Dream until a haunting part of their past threatens their marriage, and ultimately their lives. In the meantime, Marvin is trapped in a living nightmare desperately trying to escape the mistakes of his thug past. Back in New York, Kaylin has to face the toughest decision of his life, while his girl Angel has to answer for herself as well.

"From Thug to Scholar is the true account of James Williams's journey in life, the process of losing the mask he wore to fit in with the crowd and becoming a role model for young people of all races. Read it and be inspired." Linda Jacobs, Spur Finalist and WILLA Award winning author of Jackson Hole Journey. "Not only does Dr. James Williams present a compelling story about the struggles and triumphs of his life; but interwoven, amidst every page, are life-principles destined to positively impact every generation. This book should be in the hands of every person who has a dream...and is dogmatic enough to do what it takes, to make those dreams come true!" -Savaslas A. Lofton, author "At a Mirror's Glance" novel

They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities. Now Bill Buford, editor of the prestigious journal Granta, enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure with the social imagination of a George Orwell and the raw personal engagement of a Hunter Thompson.

I was inspired to write "A bad man A thug and A gangster by a song I written and recorded called "Bad man" off of my 2015 album release.The story depicts Batro as a bad man because he is feared and formed an alliance with most of the local thugs in Guyana and then traveled to New York city when his cousin Vision called him to take over while he operation called "fly" and he got most of New York city strung out on the drug "fly" .He is a Thug because he murders and shows no remorse and he is a gangster because he is involed in extortion.

A controversial new novel from critically acclaimed Essence bestseller Reginald L. Hall explores the attraction of dating a bad boy from an entirely new angle. During college, Juan Jiles fell in love with Darrell, who convinced Juan to help him rob one of Philadelphia's largest banks. During the heist, Darnell is killed, and Juan escapes with more than $175,000. After mourning the loss of his lover, Juan begins rebuilding his life and uses the money to open a popular celebrity hair salon. Then along comes Bryant Thompson, a street thug with drugs, drama, and deception in tow. Juan falls in love with the hustling, muscle-bound Bryant and soon succumbs to Bryant's addictive world. Juan's life starts to spin out of control, and he realizes that his meeting Bryant didn't happen by chance. A story of a man doomed by passion, In Love with a Thug is by turns a humorous, tragic, and hard-hitting look at the cost of destructive love and the price some pay for true happiness.