Isn’t the whole of our life to be someone we needed when we were younger? How we tend to give advice based on our past mistakes, is the representation of how we try to help others in ways we needed. And one example of such person is the world-famous rapper 50 Cent, who penned out his hard-earned wisdom through his creation. 50 Cent’s book Playground is to help those in need.
50 Cent is an American rapper, actor, businessman, and also writer with 16 published books. His real name is Curtis James Jackson III. And in this article, we will talk about 50 Cent’s book Playground, which revolves around a high school kid and his redemption.
Is Playground 50 Cent’s Autobiography?
Every book you read will bestow you with a new sort of enlightenment you never knew you needed. And 50 Cent’s book Playground does the same. The main attraction of this book is that it is loosely inspired by 50 cent’s own adolescence and is written with his own teenage son in mind.
Jackson released the book in November 2011. This book is a young adult fiction novel about an overweight African American boy, Butterball. This book could be a good read for any teen experiencing bullying or being a bully. Butterball is a captivating character, and people can relate to his journey of self-discovery.
Many people were skeptical when reading this book but were left surprised. Through this book, 50 Cent talks about some of the issues that teens have, like self-esteem, weight, identity, money, friendship, etc. There’s no age group for this book. It is easy to read, and anyone who can read should go through it, but to say this is 50 Cent’s autobiography is quite inaccurate. The rapper took some of his life experiences and instances as an inspiration, but a huge part of it is fiction.
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Meet Butterball
Butterball, a protagonist of 50 Cent’s book, is a troubled child. His real name is Burton, and in the beginning, it is less likely that you will like the character. But upon reading further and knowing Butterball’s story piece by piece, the character will start to grow on you. You will realize he is an end product of the environment he grew up in.
In the book, Buttercup beats up the kids at his school and is sent to Liz, an out-of-touch therapist to figure out his issues and help him. His issues included his dad, who is a passive criminal, and a lesbian mother. Liz helps Burton to accept the situation he has been in.
Buttercup wanted his parents to resume the marriage and his mom not to be gay. So Liz helps him come to terms with the fact that denial won’t change a thing. The main character has an epiphany moment and marches towards a happy ending. Playground is indeed a cliché but a good cliché nonetheless.
Playground Reviews
Many people were skeptical at first, but upon reading, praises have been coming for Jackson. If you are yet to read the novel or are thinking about reading it, then it sure will captivate your attention, and you will learn to question yourself why we do what we do. The 320 pages novel has its depth and has received critical praise, and is also poised to become a perennial classic.
50 Cent’s book is available on various platforms like Amazon, and it’s marked price is $19.53 on the hard cover. The book’s average rating on GoodReads is 3.78 out of 5. Among many business ventures, 50 Cent also started a book publishing imprint, G-Unit Books, on January 4, 2007. Before playground, he had written other books like From Pieces To Weight in 2005, which sold 73,000 copies in hardcover, The 48 Laws of Power, and The 50th law with Robert Greene.
This book talks about bullying and is mostly considered as the true story of a former bully. The purpose of 50 Cent’s book is to let the readers know how just like 50 Cent, Buttercup too had a hard time living with his parents’ situation and how he never gave up despite anything. This book is by a former bully talking about how bullying is not okay. 50 Cent hopes this book to have a positive influence on all teenagers. All in all, we think this book is a good read and could help readers gain a new perspective while dealing with their life issues.
