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Lal Krishna Advani is a prominent leader of the BJP. In fact after Vajpayee he is the most recognizable face of the BJP on the Indian Political horizon. Advani’s life spans over eight decades of Indian polity. From this angle alone, his autobiography ‘My country, My life’ is a significant contribution.

The book is voluminous and covers Advani’s life from his days at Karachi before independence to the 21st century. It’s a tremendous canvas and Advani has expended substantial time on it to present the facts as he sees them. Hardly any Indian political leader of significant stature has written an autobiography, with the exception of Nehru. Advani therefore needs to be complimented for this step.

Advani’s book makes interesting reading as it is gives an clear or deep perception as to how the thought procedure of the Hindu social and political party the RSS led to the launch of the political outfit the Jan Sangh. This party later transformed into the BJP. The firstborn part of the book exceptionally his amount of time in Karachi and the influence of the RSS on him makes interesting reading. He brings out his disenchantment with the Congress party for their sensed failure to prevent partition and eulogizes the work of the RSS for the duration of the difficult days of 1947 when India was aflame with Hindu Muslim riots. Advani likewise discusses the bomb plot of 1947 at Karachi in which a few Hindu Sindhi leaders were implicated.

Advani’s does clarify his equation with regards to Gandhi. He brings out the fact that he has all respect for the leader, but his analysis of Nehru and Indira Gandhi are revealing. He is critical of them.

The book disseminate over a thousand pages, could have been edited by at least 200 pages and the inherent content would not have been lost. After reading his book one may be grateful for the brand of nationalism of Advani. His interpretation of the Shah Bano verdict as well as his Ram Rath Yatra and Ram temple at Ayodhya which led to the down fall of the VP Singh government are interesting as they give the view point of Advani and the Hindu party i.e. BJP (Bharatia Janta Party).

Advani notwithstanding for all his long association with the RSS (Rashtra Swayam Sevak Sangh) and Hindu revivalist party the BJP and earlier the Jan Sangh does come out as a secularist. Nowhere in the book does Advani appear to be anything, other than a nationalist. When he was penning this book there was a chance he would be Prime Minister of India, hence some portions might have been written with that in view. But that does not detract from the merit of the book. Reading it gives one an clear or deep perception into the mind of one of the biggest Hindu leaders of the BJP in the present era.

Advani was the Deputy Prime Minister in the BJP government under Vajpayee. His friendship with Vajpayee is without doubt or question brought out where Vajpayee was the advisor and Advani the follower. However Advani glosses over his role in the release of the wanted terrorist Azar Masood in the aftermath of the hijacking of Indian air line plane. Greater transparencies in this would have added value.

Also missing out are personal intimate details of Adjani’s personal life. An autobiography is not a political testament but ought to be all encompassing including personal life. This lacuna is not addressed in the book.

However the book is worth a read if only to know the working of the mind of the man who would be king. Advani’s defeat at the hustings does not detract from the merit of the book.

My Infamous Life The Autobiography Of

From one of the greatest rappers of all time, a essay regarding a life almost lost and a revealing look at the dark side of hip hop’s Golden Era . . .

In this often violent but always introspective memoir, Mobb Deep’s Prodigy tells his much prevised story of struggle, survival, and hope down the mean streets of New York City. For the original time, he gives an intimate look at his family background, his battles with drugs, his life of crime, his relentless suffering with sickle-cell anemia, and much more. Recently freed after serving three and a half years in state prison due to what a lot of consider an unlawful arrest by a rumored mystery NYPD hip hop task force, Prodigy is ready to talk in regards to his life as one of rap’s greatest legends.

My Infamous Life is an unblinking account of Prodigy’s wild times with Mobb Deep who, alongside rappers like Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, and Wu-Tang Clan, changed the musical landscape with their bright portrayals of early ’90s street life. It is a firsthand chronicle of legendary rap feuds like the East Coast–West Coast rivalry; Prodigy’s beefs with Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, and Capone-N-Noreaga; and run-ins with prodigal hit manufacturers and managers like Puff Daddy, Russell Simmons, Chris Lighty, Irv Gotti, and Lyor Cohen.

Taking the reader behind the smoke-and-mirrors glamour of the hip hop world, so many times seen as the only way out for those with few options, Prodigy lays down the truth when it comes to the intoxicating power of money, the meaning of true friendship and loyalty, and the at last redemptive power of self. This is the heartbreaking journeying of a child born in privilege, his youth expended amid music royalty like Diana Ross and Dizzy Gillespie, educated in private schools, until a family disaster changed everything. Raised in the mayhem of the Queensbridge projects, Prodigy rose to the dizzying heights of fame and at long last fell into the darkness of a prison cell.

A veritably candid memoir, percentage fearless confessional and percentage ode to the concrete jungles of New York City, My Infamous Life is written by a man who was on the front line of the last outstanding moment in hip hop history and who is still fighting to achieve his very own American Dream.

Review”Prodigy at one time was one of the best rappers in the game . . . he was close to being the best rapper in the game.” –Jay-Z

”Albert ‘Prodigy’ Johnson and his partner, Kejuan ‘Havoc’ Mujita, used their hardcore street stories to for a limitless time alter the rap game alongside fellow NYC titans Nas, the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and Wu-Tang Clan.” –Village Voice

”We had our differences, which was genuinely just hyped-up bull****. I wish everything for Prodigy . . . I just wish the best for him . . . And I would love to see them come back again. I would be the basi person in the record store buying a Mobb album.” –Nas

”Most of the groups that were around when New York’s Mobb Deep debuted in 1993 have fallen to the wayside either because they could not stick together or fans no longer cared regarding their music. But the duo – Havoc and Prodigy – have not only remained allegiant to one another, they’ve maintained their status as one of the premier groups in hip-hop.” –MTV News

About the AuthorAs one half of the hip-hop phenomenon Mobb Deep, ALBERT ”PRODIGY” JOHNSON has sold millions of albums, performed allround the world, and recorded with the elite of hip-hop, R&B, and rock with his signature style of hard-core, reality-based music. Born with the hereditary impairment of normal physiological function sickle-cell anemia, Prodigy has battled pain his entire life and is now furthering the importance of a healthful diet, spiritual enrichment, and a positive, generative lifestyle. He lives in Queens, New York, with his wife and three children.

Hip-hop has taken writer LAURA CHECKOWAY around the world. The former senior editor of Vibe magazine, she has penned revealing celebrity profiles and investigative features for numerous publications and is a regular contributor to RollingStone.com. As a documentary filmmaker, she proceeds to portion stories that impact, haunt, and last. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Most helpful customer reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
insightful autobiography
By Harriet Klausner
This is an insightful autobiography that hooks the audience from the Introduction as Prodigy in a prison four hours from the city realizes he is just another inmate though a celebrity. From there Prodigy explains his family roots changed from musical affluence to the Queensborough projects where violent crime is the norm. For instance, Prodigy, who suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia, admits he committed a robbery to insure he met the code of high school which reminded me of the 1950s Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter. His family also knew crime first hand when his aunt a bartender was shot in Queens. When he became a famous rapper, blood money and drugs eventually led to prison. There he found out who his true friends are.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Thugs, Guns, Drugs, Industry and a quest for Knowledge
By Chieck Kongo

For those unaware of Mobb Deep, this is a group that rose in the mid-90′s or “second golden era” of hip-hop. At the time, they brought to the table a mix of aggression, introspection, and street logic to their craft that set them apart from their peers. The combination of Havoc’s beats and Prodigy’s high level of street rhyming had them ranked as high-echelon rappers among fans and peers. Though their theme of crime-life was common at the time, their particular style set them apart as it was much more detailed, felt more “real”, and gave a deeper look into the mind of the street thug waiting to rob you. Most of this was credited to Prodigy’s unique voice and serious way of rhyming, and is confirmed by sound bytes of Prodigy’s various quotes being sampled and sprinkled in the songs of countless rappers to date.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
An entertaining read
By Azazm333
Okay so let’s see, rapper Prodigy makes a book that has sparked a lot of so-called controversy in the immediate hip hop/rapper world -Sounds fun.
So the book is about his life from the beginning up to what’s been going on with him during the last few years. It’s insightful on many levels.
I laughed a lot while reading it but that’s from me being desensitized to many things rather than the author trying to be funny.
The only problem with this book is that for me I read a few key things that were a bit questionable and Prodigy has a thing for green eyes. But other than that, worth every penny for any Mobb Deep fan.