The Cook Up
A Crack Rock Memoir
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Narrated by:
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D. Watkins
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By:
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D. Watkins
About this listen
Reminiscent of the classic Random Family and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace but told by the man who lived it, The Cook Up is a riveting look inside the Baltimore drug trade portrayed in The Wire and an incredible story of redemption.
The smartest kid on his block in East Baltimore, D. was certain he would escape the life of drugs, decadence, and violence that had surrounded him since birth. But when his brother, Devin, is shot - only days after D. receives notice that he's been accepted into Georgetown University - the plans for his life are exploded, and he takes up the mantle of his brother's crack empire. D. succeeds in cultivating the family business, but when he meets a woman unlike any he's known before, his priorities are once more put into question.
Equally terrifying and hilarious, inspiring and heartbreaking, D.'s story offers a rare glimpse into the mentality of a person who has escaped many hells.
©2016 D. Watkins (P)2016 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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The Death of Cool
- From Teenage Rebellion to the Hangover of Adulthood
- By: Gavin McInnes
- Narrated by: Gavin McInnes
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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This is his story, or, rather, stories - lots of them, and all gut-punchingly hilarious, from that first far reach into a girl's tight jeans to turning forty with a cataclysmic party. In between you’ll hear about acid trips, threesomes, Nazi skinheads, his band Anal Chinook (Inuit for “warm wind”), Martians in northern Canada, throwing pedophiles in jail, dinner with the Clash, what happens when you crash Bill Maher's show wasted, and the true story of Vice magazine.
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if you don't buy this book, the terrorists win
- By Kelsey Gholi on 04-03-17
By: Gavin McInnes
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This Might Get a Little Heavy
- A Memoir
- By: Ralphie May, Nils Parker
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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There was a time when Ralphie May was one of the biggest stand-up comedians in the country, both by ticket sales and by tonnage. While some things changed - Ralphie lost half his body weight - others did not: He will be remembered as one of the most successful comics of his time. Completed just months before his untimely passing, in This Might Get a Little Heavy, Ralphie takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of his life and career, one that winds across the country, over obstacles, beyond heartbreak, and through the golden age of stand-up.
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brilliant and tragic
- By Timothy Trujillo on 08-12-18
By: Ralphie May, and others
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Tears of a Hustler
- Tears of a Hustler Series, Book 1
- By: Silk White
- Narrated by: Erik Alexander
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Ali is a drug dealer slash business man who tries to change the way the game is played by giving back to the community. But at the same time, he has to keep a close eye on his childhood crime partner, G-Money, who has a strong hatred for the police. Ali's life takes a serious turn when a local rival, a crooked cop, his pregnant girlfriend, and his little brother come into the picture.
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The Narrator made me want to stop listening.
- By 910SuperNova on 07-20-17
By: Silk White
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Flood
- A Novel (Burke, Book 1)
- By: Andrew Vachss
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Burke's newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster for her - so she can kill him with her bare hands. In this thriller, Andrew Vachss's renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted avenger to follow a child's murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is blind and the penthouses are as dangerous as the basements.
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Noir!
- By Snoodely on 03-06-14
By: Andrew Vachss
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The Beast Side
- Living (and Dying) While Black in America
- By: D. Watkins
- Narrated by: Brandon Rubin
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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To many in the age of Obama, America had succeeded in "going beyond race", putting the divisions of the past behind us. And then 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by a wannabe cop in Florida; and then 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; and then Baltimore blew up; and then gunfire shattered a prayer meeting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Suddenly the entire country awakened to a stark fact: Young Black men are an endangered species.
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Excellent
- By Bruce Cline on 03-28-23
By: D. Watkins
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American Street
- By: Ibi Zoboi
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie - a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola's mother is detained by US immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins - Chantal, Donna, and Princess - the grittiness of Detroit's West Side, a new school, and a surprising romance all on her own.
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A lot to unpack
- By AudioBookHoe on 07-18-17
By: Ibi Zoboi
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Cold City
- Repairman Jack: Early Years Trilogy, Book 1
- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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If you've never read a Repairman Jack novel, this is the place to begin. It's 1990. A twenty-one-year-old named Jack has dropped out of college, leaving his old life behind to build a new one in New York City. Manhattan's rough edges are jagged enough to shred any unwary newcomer, but perhaps not one who is determined to stay off the grid, at any cost, in the busiest metropolis on earth. And to do so, he'll have to take jobs of a less than legal nature.
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Fun, as long you don't think too much
- By Andrew Pollack on 01-17-14
By: F. Paul Wilson
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We Were Here
- By: Matt de la Pena
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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When it happened Miguel was sent to Juvi. The judge only gave him a year in a group home - said he had to write in a journal so some counselor could try to figure out how he thinks. The judge had no idea that he'd actually done Miguel a favor. Ever since it happened Miguel’s mom can't even look him in the eye. Any home besides his would be a better place to live. But Miguel didn’t bet on meeting Rondell or Mong or on any of what happened after they broke out. He only thought about Mexico and getting across the border to where he could start over....
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Loved it!!!
- By Emmanuel Mangata on 03-17-18
By: Matt de la Pena
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All Souls
- A Family Story from Southie
- By: Michael Patrick MacDonald
- Narrated by: Michael Patrick MacDonald
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The anti-busing riots of 1974 forever changed Southie, Boston's working-class Irish community, branding it as a violent, racist enclave. Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in Southie's Old Colony housing project. He describes the way this world within a world felt to the troubled yet keenly gifted observer he was even as a child. But the threats - poverty, drugs, a shadowy gangster world - were real. All Souls is heartbreaking testimony to lives lost too early, and the story of how a place so filled with pain could still be "the best place in the world".
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this book broke me in the best way
- By anon on 02-14-23
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Already Dead
- By: Charlie Huston
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Battery to the Bronx, Manhattan is crawling with Vampyres. Joe Pitt is one of them, and he's not happy about it. Yeah, he gets to be tough as nails and hard to kill. But spending his nights trying to score a pint of blood to feed the Vyrus that's eating at him isn't his idea of a good time.
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A Pleasant Surprise
- By Flavius Krakdaddius on 12-23-09
By: Charlie Huston
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KooKooLand
- A Memoir
- By: Gloria Norris
- Narrated by: Gloria Norris
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Gloria Norris grew up in the projects of Manchester, New Hampshire, with her parents; her sister, Virginia; and her cat, Sylvester. A snapshot might show a happy young family, but only a dummkopf would buy that. Nine-year-old Gloria is gutsy and wisecracking. Her father, Jimmy, all dazzle and danger, is often on the far side of the law and makes his own rules - which everyone else better follow. Gloria's mom, Shirley, tries not to rock the boat, Virginia unwisely defies Jimmy, and Gloria fashions herself into his sidekick - the son he never had.
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this was so awful I could only listen to a little
- By Wyowoman on 09-14-18
By: Gloria Norris
What listeners say about The Cook Up
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tira
- 02-01-17
AMAZING!!!
The words made the story come to life. I didn't want the book to end.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ravi Robinson
- 06-28-22
You’ll listen to it all at once.
This book is fire and you won’t stop reading.
It is extremely insightful and teaches you a lot. Start listening you won’t regret it for a second.
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- KEVIN A. WADE
- 08-18-21
True B more story
This book is real and written for others to truly see Baltimore. Watkins kept it 💯 and made you understand the lack of support necessary for kids to succeed in something other than the drug game. Trading one addiction for a "legit" addiction is powerful to understand why communities are and stay impoverished
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- Taleya n Harris
- 06-28-17
Good Story Bad Narration
I thought the author could've narrated the book better. There wasn't many inflections in time to differentiate and give more life to the various people in the story.
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1 person found this helpful
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- LJM VO
- 08-25-22
For Real?
At first, I wasn't sure this story was true. Sadly, I guess it was, as I see the author has written other books.
Sadly, in the sense that people adapt to their surroundings, even when their situation is horrific. This book really spells that out for the listener. We're talking drugs in East Baltimore at the height of the crack epidemic. How normal the chaos was to the people living it.
I would suggest slowing the narration down a bit. Made it easier to understand.
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-08-16
Very worthwhile
Interesting inspiring story. Well worth the listen.
An first hand, inside look at the life and struggles facing black youth and black society in Baltimore. I heard the author being interviewed on US public radio and knew I wanted to hear his compelling story. I wish the author well.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-15-23
Wow
Didn’t want it to end. Gotta tell the stories of the inner cities. Bmore is a special one.
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- jennifer ogunsola
- 06-15-16
A must read...
This is an authentic and raw account of life in Baltimore. Watkins is a brilliant storyteller who takes you through his life growing up and making it in an inner-city when so many odds were stacked againt him. A must read.
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- Alex
- 05-27-19
A Great Baltimore Story
This a great story about D Watkins' upbringing and the trails and tribulations that he experienced in Baltimore. I live 20 minutes from Baltimore so this hits very close to home. I've had the opportunity to meet Watkins multiple times in Baltimore, sparking conversations, ultimately leading me to intellectual insights and a new perspective on social issues. He left the drug fueled fast money lifestyle as a prominent drug kingpin in Baltimore, to teach English and instill change in his community. To this day, Watkins continues to be one of my true life idols that you can have an honest conversation with. One that is not self consumed with his fame, relatable, and promoting a skill (literacy) that changed his life in his community.
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- Y.Mengistu
- 07-18-23
Fantastic!
Authors doing their own audiobooks can be hit or miss but this was done beautifully. The story draws you in right away, the main thing obviously was seeking how the story would wind around the path from a life in the streets to a rebirth on the other side of the game.
This is a story that can and will help first and foremost young Black people, but also many other youth and even people who are older that are looking for themselves.
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