Four Feet Tall and Rising

November 28, 2011
As host of Animal Planet’s Pit Bull show, Rossi has become a name in the animal rescue community for his fierce advocacy for the interests of the pit bull, which he sees as a misunderstood breed. In this energetic autobiography, Rossi—a “third-generation Little Person” tells a fascinating life story, including his early escape from his dysfunctional, antisocial dad; living on the street at age 14 and becoming a legendary white member of the L.A. Crips gang, which led to a 10-year prison sentence; and his postprison career as the head of a talent agency for little people. Through it all, however, runs the thread of Rossi’s relationship with pit bulls, from the first pit that helped him through his tough adolescence to the number of pits he currently owns. Starting with one “spark”—“to convince kids in the projects that pit bulls weren’t dangerous and shouldn’t be used for fighting”—Rossi starts his own rescue service, which allows him to free dozens of pit bulls and develop an in-your-face approach to people who mistreat the breed. This led to his discovery by Animal Planet and his development as a dynamic television personality. But Rossi makes no apologies for his passion: “Dog rescue often turns normal, good-intentioned people into crazy fanatics.”

December 15, 2011
A salty, pugnacious memoir of a Little Person, his gangland background, his love of pit bulls and his road back from self-destruction. Rossi is known to many as a brash-talking TV personality whose mission is to rehabilitate the pit bulls' woeful image. "The dogs were not designed to kill," he writes. "They had no special "enzyme" that made them fight. It's only humans that consciously make the decision to kill. All dogs are capable of violence if they've been trained by shitty owners to be nasty, protective, fighting machines." Rossi has seen the same thing happen with another species--his own. He barely survived his youth at the hands of a violently abusive father, fleeing to his friend's house in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where by dint of association he became a member of the Bloods gang. He lived on the edge, always ready for something bad to happen: "I learned to protect myself. I carried guns." This path would earn him 11 years in prison, where he was the only white man housed in a black unit, preferring Blood relations to life with the Aryan Brotherhood. His prison diary is told with a surprising degree of insight, but this is a story of redemption. Eventually Rossi managed to wire his act together, starting a Little People talent agency, working hard as an actor and dance man and working tirelessly to resuscitate the pit bull and bull terrier image. "That's the most important thing," he writes. "To give something back, no matter what it is…To actually be considered a success, you gotta give a shit." Now he has caught a little break, a moment of fame, and he's using it for the dogs and the Little People. A candid, charged slice of personal history.

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