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List Price: $15.00 | | Publisher: Da Capo Press
Salesrank: 86678
Released: September 16, 2003 |
| Our Price: $5.83 |
| Used Price: $1.91 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
A legend after a bullet killed him at the age of twenty-five, Tupac Shakur was the most riveting rap musician of his day. Far from being the insolent "gangsta" the press put forth, Shakur was fiercely intelligent, fearless, and determined to make a mark. Darrin Bastfield grew up with him in a rough Baltimore neighborhood. In this vivid memoir, Bastfield reveals Tupac Shakur as the teenager he really was: bound for greatness.In tight, edgy prose, Bastfield recalls seven years of friendship. Shakur, new in town, a skinny thirteen-year-old in shabby clothes, may have looked uncool, but he blew the school away at a talent show, an electrifying performance. It was at the Baltimore School for the Arts, however, where things really started to happen-an encounter with Salt-N-Pepa, the wild night of the 1988 senior prom. Shakur and Bastfield lived through it together, and in this memoir, it all comes alive again.
Back In The Day: My Life And Times With Tupac Shakur Reviews:
If one man can have this effect, imagine a whole society 
2007-05-03 - I was always pulling up a blank on my mind when anyone mentioned Tupac. Not only that, I also never knew when his music was playing. All I knew was that he was a rap artist who was shot to death one unfortunate day. What I came to learn from this book was stunning not only in the stories about his past, but also stories about his family, particularly his mother. The time and place of his beginning is humbling; for a child growing up in an impoverished and dangerous city, Tupac has shown society that great people CAN come from even the poorest of places. His revolutionary ideas and strong, provocative lyrics showed not only that great people can emerge from the most unlikely of places, but also showed that our society is full of corruption and in desperate need of reform, starting with the less fortunate and oppressed.
Back in the day: My life and times with Tupac Sharuk
2007-01-22 -
Back In The Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Sharuk
Tupac was the greatest rapper/actor in history. But to get to the top he had to go through struggles in his childhoods. Thats why the theme of the story
Back in the in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Sharuk is to follow your dreams no matter what you had to go through and dont't stop unless
you have to. Tupac also teaches us to use our talents to enjoy our life. Darrin Bastfeild , the author of the book , go with Tupac adventures during his
high school years.So let talk about more of the theme.
Tupac actions of the theme was letting no one stop him from his talents. Every day he would wake up, go to school, come home or go to his freind house
and write raps, sleep then repeat the process all over. But one thing Tupac and the author always endured was both of them was poor although Darrin had
had a little more money then Tupac. So Tupac would borrow clothes from his friends or kids from the school bring him clothes. Any chances Tupac had to
to get a break he takes. For example Tupac and his friends almost had a break into Hollywood but the seruity guard caught them and the manager of Salt n' Pepa
reject them saying he had to cacth a plane. No matter how much he was rejected Tupac still had a break.
Tupac also shows the theme by the words out his mouth. One thing Darrin points out is that Tupac said he was little was that he wanted to be a revolvutionary
when he grows up. That shows Tupac known what he wanted to be which he did but did it in a different style such as a rapper and an actor.He always told
everyone what he wanted to be and he showed it. Like one of the Tupac wrote when he was growing up "We Work Hard" was what he did .He spoke out for
people like him while he and his mom was with the Black Panther movemment about the voilence in his nieghberhood. So not only did Tupac rap but he was also a
worker for peace.
Yes this theme is true because I had my own taste of bad karma. When I was born I had a blood infection so I stay in the hospital for fifthteen days. Around two
years old I had lead poisoning, which I miricaly survive and had to get surgery on on my ankle. At five my sodium level was to high. and only last year did I nearly
passed out because of my heart membrace I got when I was born. Still I'm smart, got accepted to a good school and go there and play an insturment in band.That
proves that the past can not predict your furture.
In the end Tupac achieved his goals. He starred in movies such as A Raisin in the Sun and made smash hits like Califoria Love. He had the world knowing what
his name was and rocking to his beat espcially in the black nieghberhoods of America. He known people like Biggy Smalls and Mary J. Bligh. Darrin almost went on
a tour with Tupac realized they had lives of there their own and went their seperate ways. Tupac shows just we can anything we want to as long as we set are minds
to it. But sadly, he was shot and died seven days later.
What makes the legend? This book let's you know....
2006-03-01 - The book is the story of the author's life as it was when he grew up with Tupac. Even if you don't know who Tupac is (somehow I doubt that) you will still enjoy this book. The story is one of a man who plays the cards he was dealt and how no bad hand could hold him back. It gives you an appreciation of the artist, the author and of yourself all at the same time.
This is the book to read for Tupac fans as it is written in story-book format thus enabeling you not only to learn the specs of the life but also to be put in the shoes of someone who was near him before he was famous. Great book, great life, great read!! Pac4life haha!
Much better than I expected. 
2004-12-15 - This is a good book, insightful and well written by Mr.Bastfield, it was clearly written as a labor of love and a need to document an intense kinship, that ended before it had a chance to mature in the later years of life. Since Tupac Shakurs untimely death there have been many people trying to capitalize on his memory, however this author and book do not fall into that category. For those who are interested in the somewhat awkward but always smooth teenager, who would one day become Rap musics greatest legend, this is a heartfelt account of the building of the man behind the myth, the carefree but yet fiercely determined ghetto kid, who had the right stuff to overcome the enormous odds stacked against him. Few have the courage to dream big and then pursue those dreams at all cost, this is a story and observations of a young man who did just that. The book falls short in some areas but overall is well worth reading, and a job well done by Mr.Bastfield.
A different view of Tupac (RIP)
2004-03-22 - I liked this book quite a bit.
Mainly because it offered a different perspective than most other books about Tupac.
This book was written by a teenage friend who experieced the same things Tupac himself experienced. They 'shared the struggle' of trying to better themselves in a very harsh environment.
This book shows the almost relentless passion Tupac had to try and influence the world around him in a positive way. And the internal struggle he had with some of his actions. He knew of the contradiction and was trying to evolve. Too bad he was cut short in his quest.
One of the most telling insights to the basis of Tupac's personality is the answer to the question one of his earlist teachers asked. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
For those who haven't ever looked too deeply into Tupac's more intellectual and compassionate side, there is a surprise in store, Tupac's heart. For those of us that knew he was much more than a thug, you'll see more and more of his depth.
An easy read that kept me flippin pages..
