The Rose That Grew From Concrete Paperback – Illustrated, February 3, 2009

This is a book that still remains at a low price, even though I feel like it could be a lot more due to how deep Tupac gets in terms of his poetry. Even if you are not a fan of his., his poetry, alone is extraordinary in ways that I am unable to explain. I can only say to take a chance without buying it. You can also find this and many libraries, or you can Google the name of the book and “PDF” to get the entire book free online.

Amazing poetry!

I Was amazed with every page and i am still reading it! Many peoms you can relate to, lets remember this is when Tupac was just like all of us. Not famous. This is more like a sensative side not the THUG everyone potrayed him as. Some poems brought tears to my eyes. Of course it's not going to be perfect as his music that was relased because these were made in his privacy where he can do drawing where he can cross out where he can just pour it all out into the paper as it was in his head. Sometime i look at the words he crossed out and think what made him change it? Maybe it was a new idea that seemed better way to explain his thoughts. Which is something we all do, thats why we have earasers but sometimes i think he did it in pen or marker for a reason because it's always good to look back on what you almost put and remember WHY you changed it. In this book so far i've read about how much you can love someone after everything such as the poem "And still i love you" It brought tears to my eyes because sometimes u can get in arguments with someone you love and you think..u done so much bad to me but the good always out weighs it so "Still i love you" Also the poem about "Sometimes i cry" it made me really think that even him, a man so full of lyrics and lines, has his bad moments. It can also refelct to a song he made in the future called "when thugs cry" proving he was still that sensative man who did not only write gangsta rap but inspirational amazing stories in his music as well and this book is a great refelction on how far he has come and how well he used his potential.! Overall in this book he write about what we all face in life, wheater it rhymes on not or it has a rhythm or not or sometimes he even leaves u thinking. Such as when he said in one of his poems "Selfish people just like you" makes you think. He write about love, first date jitters, first kisses, heartbreaks, loneliness, joy, pride, uncontional love (his mother) striving and looking for a better day. This book has made me a bigger fan then i was before. I Let someone who was not familiar with his work read a few poems and they thought this man has been thru alot and his sence of thinking made him want to read more. Which in my case i think is great because this person didnt even know much of his work not even his popular music and now they are a fan because this is most of his background before all that . In the end I RECOMMEND this book very much . I LOVE IT ! Rest In Peace Tupac Amaru Shakur, Great poet and music maker, you are Never forgotten, always will u live thru your writting as well as your music!

Loved this to bits.

As a writer myself, I found inspiration through this book and others like it....What I have always loved most, and what always stands out to me is how they put copies of the original notebook pages in his handwriting in there. Instead of just reading the words...you feel every stroke of the pen....the emotion....you can see where he rushed, where he felt strong emotion, you can see his writing shortcuts and the flow of thoughts, his doodling, mistakes and corrections, all of it. This book is for creatives and for the inspired. Its not for the average reader....theres no happy ending here. Only footprints......footprints long gone but these you can see. Its an experience, a walk through a young fatherless man as he navigates his emotions, fears, hopes, dreams and experiences at a time where he was only becoming the Icon he is today. This book is an experience. I only hope that you feel something too. <3

Insightful

I'm so happy I found this. And was surprised there was copy's of the actual poems he wrote. Tupac fan for life

If you have love for Tupac, you should gift this to yourself. I was 8 years old on the day he left this world, meaning I was too young to go to his shows or follow his career and life in real time. I listened to a handful of his songs as a kid but it wasn’t until adulthood that I really dove into his endless collection of works and tried to get to know everything about him. He’s moved me and broke me down into tears countless times. It took a long time to learn enough about him to see through all of the misinformation and false characterizations in order to get to the truth of just who he was as a human being and the important messages he was giving to us. But that effort was well worth it to me as I now have the utmost respect for that human on every single level.I don’t have a lot of what I consider prized possessions, but this book is one of them. It’s very sentimental to me because, as strange as it sounds, I feel like I have a piece of him with me now.Each poem is printed twice, one side has a photocopy of his handwritten version, the next page has a typed version. What’s cool about this is that seeing his writing helps me to imagine being there in the moment he wrote each piece. If he was sitting in a jail cell its almost like I get to be right there with him, close enough to tell him that I understand and he’s appreciated (honestly, no pun intended) Seriously after I read each page all I want to do is to give him the biggest hug. It is impossible for me to regret this purchase. In fact I appreciate myself for buying this for me.