Power & Beauty
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Power & Beauty: A Love Story of Life on the Streets for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
Drawing upon his experiences as a young drug dealer in Atlanta, acclaimed hip hop artist T.I. makes his street lit debut with a powerful modern novel of love, tragedy, and hope that vividly brings to life the realities and choices for those who live beyond society's manicured edges. Paul Power Clay and Tanya Beauty Long have only each other when the woman who loved them, Power's mother, Charlotte, unexpectedly dies. Sexually drawn to each other, the sixteen year olds know they must keep their attraction hidden, especially from their new guardian, Charlie Slim Simmons, a rich hustler who has his own plans for them. As Slim takes Power under his wing and introduces him to the dark side of Atlanta, he also tries to corrupt Beauty's independence and innocence. Eventually driven apart, the teens' lives take very different paths. Yet neither Power nor Beauty can forget their love, and one day, one of them will have to save the other. A dark, gritty story of sex, violence, hustling, and redemption set on the dangerous streets of Atlanta and peopled with larger-than-life characters, "Power and Beauty" demonstrates the versatility of one of our most promising talents and is sure to connect with his millions of fans.
About the Author
Clifford T. I. Harris Jr., is a Grammy Award-winning rapper, film and music producer, actor, and writer. He is the founder and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Grand Hustle Records and he launched his film company, Grand Hustle Films in 2007. T. I. knows of the excitement, danger, and pain of which he writes. As a teenager he sold drugs and later served time on federal weapons charges. He and his wife, Tiny, are involved with charities and community outreach involving children and those suffering with Alzheimers. David Ritz has written several books, including the acclaimed novels The Man Who Brought the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn and Blue Notes Under A Green Felt Hat, and is the only four-time winner of the Gleason Book of the Year Award. He's written the lives of many celebrities, including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Grandmaster Flash, and a New York Times review named him the first-call celebrity collaborator. He lives in California.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
58 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
This book is more screenplay than novel.
24 Oct 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
An HBO or Showtime TV series (or mini-series) is where this novel belongs. The book is more screenplay than novel. It ends with a cliffhanger, so we can be sure that a sequel is in the works.
There is enough explicit sex and foul language to repel the faint of heart and to ensure that this "screenplay" will never make it to network TV. On the other hand, there may be enough action, sex and money to ensure this series' success. The writing is plot-driven. The prose, while simple and lacking in any flourishes, does advance the plot line at "warp speed".
The story is told in the third person and, although the author tells you what the characters feel, The reader is never shown 'why'. The reader is not drawn in emotionally. Rather, the reader views the action at a distance - as in a TV show with no character development.
Beauty is a half Japanese- half black teenager who was adopted by Power's mom.
Power is black. The `book' begins when the pair's mother dies as a result of an explosion.
The night after their mother died, Power and Beauty did something that their mother had warned them against: they made love. This experience (we are told) was magic, and the two of them spent the next several years trying to recreate the experience of that night with other lovers. But no one could ever come close to matching what (we are told) Beauty and Power had with each other.
The two teenagers are separated shortly after that experience.
Both Power and Beauty occupy worlds so overblown by conspicuous money that it is spent like water. Private jets and gold cellphone enclosures that cost $33,000 abound.
The obsessive focus on money, how it's spent, and how much everything costs actually becomes tiresome. It is also unbelievable. For instance, Beauty complains to her boyfriend that she doesn't like her boss. He retorts, "Don't worry. I just bought out the entire chain of department stores and I'll fire her tomorrow". Disbelief abounds.
The book's subtitle, "A love story of gritty life on the streets," is hardly accurate. The closest either one of them comes to a life on the streets is when Beauty sleeps on a friend's sofa for a few weeks before another billionaire picks her up.
There is enough explicit sex and foul language to repel the faint of heart and to ensure that this "screenplay" will never make it to network TV. On the other hand, there may be enough action, sex and money to ensure this series' success. The writing is plot-driven. The prose, while simple and lacking in any flourishes, does advance the plot line at "warp speed".
The story is told in the third person and, although the author tells you what the characters feel, The reader is never shown 'why'. The reader is not drawn in emotionally. Rather, the reader views the action at a distance - as in a TV show with no character development.
Beauty is a half Japanese- half black teenager who was adopted by Power's mom.
Power is black. The `book' begins when the pair's mother dies as a result of an explosion.
The night after their mother died, Power and Beauty did something that their mother had warned them against: they made love. This experience (we are told) was magic, and the two of them spent the next several years trying to recreate the experience of that night with other lovers. But no one could ever come close to matching what (we are told) Beauty and Power had with each other.
The two teenagers are separated shortly after that experience.
Both Power and Beauty occupy worlds so overblown by conspicuous money that it is spent like water. Private jets and gold cellphone enclosures that cost $33,000 abound.
The obsessive focus on money, how it's spent, and how much everything costs actually becomes tiresome. It is also unbelievable. For instance, Beauty complains to her boyfriend that she doesn't like her boss. He retorts, "Don't worry. I just bought out the entire chain of department stores and I'll fire her tomorrow". Disbelief abounds.
The book's subtitle, "A love story of gritty life on the streets," is hardly accurate. The closest either one of them comes to a life on the streets is when Beauty sleeps on a friend's sofa for a few weeks before another billionaire picks her up.
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Hate may be a strong word, but not strong enough
3 Oct 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Well this will be short and sweet. Power is left with his sister Beauty after their mother Charlotte is killed in a fire. Beauty is not Power's biological sister, they were raised as sister and brother after Beauty lost her mother. Which to me is the same thing as being sister and brother.
It was so hard for me to get past the first couple of chapters. (sections because they aren't really long enough to be chapters) I feel like TI was trying to write how he raps. The were just a bunch of sentences clustered together. Kinda like preschool. (The dog was brown. The house was blue. The sky was grey.) give me a break.
I have to be honest, I wasn't able to finish this book...I tried God knows I tried, but I just couldn't finish it. I don't know where he was trying to go, but I couldn't follow him. I had a very hard time, with him not only sleeping with his sister, but not being able to even deal with other women unless he was picturing her face. (unbeleivable) lol
I wanted to give this book a chance, but after so many, I had to give up and move on the the next book. No sense wasting time on reading something that just isn't doing it for me.
Sorry TI..I prefer your music and acting. As for David Ritz calling TIP a great writer and brilliant literary mind..did he read this book or was he smoking? save your money, I do not recommend reading.
It was so hard for me to get past the first couple of chapters. (sections because they aren't really long enough to be chapters) I feel like TI was trying to write how he raps. The were just a bunch of sentences clustered together. Kinda like preschool. (The dog was brown. The house was blue. The sky was grey.) give me a break.
I have to be honest, I wasn't able to finish this book...I tried God knows I tried, but I just couldn't finish it. I don't know where he was trying to go, but I couldn't follow him. I had a very hard time, with him not only sleeping with his sister, but not being able to even deal with other women unless he was picturing her face. (unbeleivable) lol
I wanted to give this book a chance, but after so many, I had to give up and move on the the next book. No sense wasting time on reading something that just isn't doing it for me.
Sorry TI..I prefer your music and acting. As for David Ritz calling TIP a great writer and brilliant literary mind..did he read this book or was he smoking? save your money, I do not recommend reading.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Always On My Mind.....
2 Oct 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Charlotte Clay is the mother of Power and adopted mother of her long lost best friend's daughter Beauty.Losing Charlotte in a fire at 16 years of age,Power and Beauty commit an act,during hours of grief,that they promise to never commit or speak of again.
Charles 'Slim' Simmons,Charlotte's employer,sends the teens mother home in an elaborate service.He takes the two in and gives them everything they want and need.Power accepts his generosity with open arms.Beauty is cautious and stand
offish.She sees Slim as an evil snake.She warns Power of the evilness Slim possesses.Power sees him as a generous guy that liked their mother and doing a good deed.
Beauty keeps her distance from Slim and flees to New York to fulfill her dream of becoming a fashion designer.Power stays,goes to school and learns tidbits of living the so called 'good life' from Slim.After losing a school election,Power decides he'll never attend school again.Slim agrees with him and sends him to friends to learn the game from some of the finest players that play in it.
As time goes on Power and Beauty stay separated without contact.They find themselves always dreaming of each other and thinking the secret they vow to keep.This secret has them connected yet disconnected.In their time apart they learn a lot from some of the most eccentric people there are.People who say Power and Beauty's futures are at the top of the priority list, but their own personal gains are what they really seek.
Slim loses it and everybody around him seems to meet their demise or disappear.He searches for Power and Beauty and finds them...Beauty finally contacts Power and again she warns him he's in danger at the hands of Slim...they agree to meet and at an arms length away Power is whisked away.
Just like I ended my interpretation of this story is just how this book ended.I'm really curious to know how much of this book is TI's voice and how much is David Ritz.The story line was a good one but the way it was told wasn't exactly my cup of tea.I think it would have been better for me if the format was 'Him' having a chapter and then 'Her' having a chapter.The 'Him' section was long and drawn out and the 'Her' section was short and almost as if the writer was going over the word count.The ending was left wiiiiidddde open and I really didn't care for that.
Rhyming and a little acting TI can do....writing books ????????????
3.65 rating.
Charles 'Slim' Simmons,Charlotte's employer,sends the teens mother home in an elaborate service.He takes the two in and gives them everything they want and need.Power accepts his generosity with open arms.Beauty is cautious and stand
offish.She sees Slim as an evil snake.She warns Power of the evilness Slim possesses.Power sees him as a generous guy that liked their mother and doing a good deed.
Beauty keeps her distance from Slim and flees to New York to fulfill her dream of becoming a fashion designer.Power stays,goes to school and learns tidbits of living the so called 'good life' from Slim.After losing a school election,Power decides he'll never attend school again.Slim agrees with him and sends him to friends to learn the game from some of the finest players that play in it.
As time goes on Power and Beauty stay separated without contact.They find themselves always dreaming of each other and thinking the secret they vow to keep.This secret has them connected yet disconnected.In their time apart they learn a lot from some of the most eccentric people there are.People who say Power and Beauty's futures are at the top of the priority list, but their own personal gains are what they really seek.
Slim loses it and everybody around him seems to meet their demise or disappear.He searches for Power and Beauty and finds them...Beauty finally contacts Power and again she warns him he's in danger at the hands of Slim...they agree to meet and at an arms length away Power is whisked away.
Just like I ended my interpretation of this story is just how this book ended.I'm really curious to know how much of this book is TI's voice and how much is David Ritz.The story line was a good one but the way it was told wasn't exactly my cup of tea.I think it would have been better for me if the format was 'Him' having a chapter and then 'Her' having a chapter.The 'Him' section was long and drawn out and the 'Her' section was short and almost as if the writer was going over the word count.The ending was left wiiiiidddde open and I really didn't care for that.
Rhyming and a little acting TI can do....writing books ????????????
3.65 rating.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
