The Riot Within

May 28, 2012
In this tell-all memoir, Rodney King lays bare his troubled life. He describes a childhood dominated by fear of his violent, alcoholic father, but quickly fast-forwards to the event that changed his life and thousands of others. On March 3, 1991, King was pulled over after being chased by police for speeding. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, but rather than merely cuffing King, four LAPD officers administered a brutal and sustained beating, the video and repercussions of which would rock Los Angeles and make national headlines. A year later, after the policemen were acquitted, riots broke out in L.A. that would result in over 50 dead, thousands injured, and over a billion dollars in damages. King and Spagnola (My Appetite for Destruction) go on to detail the grueling and prolonged legal battles (a civil rights trial would result in two of the officers doing time in prison), his struggle with alcoholism, and continuing run-ins with the law. Though King admits that "the riot within⦠has not been purged," he ends on a note of hope that rings in harmony with his plea made years ago to end the L.A. riotsâas he writes in the book, "Can we all get along? Maybe one day." Though by no means groundbreaking, King's take on his own story is nevertheless an interesting read. Photos.

April 1, 2012
With the assistance of Spagnola, police-brutality victim and racial lightning rod King reflects on his 1991 beating by Los Angeles police officers and the riots and courtroom drama that followed. In his debut nonfiction book, King--a name which by his own admission has become "synonymous with drinking, DUIs, domestic violence, reckless driving, civil rights violations, police brutality [and] hate crimes"--provides a simply told tale of his experiences with racism and alcoholism and the night that would forever mar his life. While the title implies a psychological journey, most of King's revelations offer little more than surface-level reporting. The majority of the factual information can be read in any newspaper or on Wikipedia; the author is at his best when he shares the personal details of his story. In a particularly revealing moment, King describes disguising himself in a Bob Marley wig in an attempt to observe the riots spurred by the acquittal of the police officers. Watching from a few blocks away, he describes feeling "that terrible presence of hatred that I felt the night of the beating, that palpable wall of loathing that was absolutely suffocating." Unfortunately, these insights are rare, and King's play-by-play recounting of the courtroom drama is not nearly as interesting as his own thoughts on racial violence. Early on he writes, "I have been asked countless times if I've forgiven those officers for beating me. The short answer is yes." However, the long answer is far more complicated, and King's dry, spare reportage continually overwhelms personal reflection. Rarely plumbs new depths of insight on America's struggles with racial violence.

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