The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness

by Gucci Mane, Soren Baker

A Simon & Schuster book. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Genres: Self Help, Music, Inspirational, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Psychology, Biography

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2020

Reviews

[Jordan Barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

3 stars if it wasn't Gucci Mane.
This is the most blunt and predictable self-help book I've ever read.
But it's Gucci Mane.
I'm probably gonna be motivated for about a week because of this book, so that's nice.
Thanks, Gucci Mane.
All hail Gucci Mane.



B-

[Book Reviews by Tara aka Queen of Memoirs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into reading The 𝐆𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 with great optimism. I was hoping his sophomore release would be as good as his first book 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐞. I had recently listened to Gucci’s autobiography and I liked it a lot. So when he dropped this book, I figured this one may be just as good as the first. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
⠀
I read this book in less than twenty-four hours last week while on a short sabbatical at the Ocean Casino Resort. I gave it my undivided attention. But this book just didn’t do it for me. And as a result I can only give it 2⭐️s and here’s why....
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* There wasn’t anything in this book I haven’t read before. It’s all typical information I’ve read in countless other motivational books and YouTube videos.

* Gucci’s delivery was too preachy for my liking. He sounded a little condescending, like he was talking down to me. As if he was sitting on a pedestal without any flaws. He bragged about his fitness journey like he never weighed close to 300lbs. He talks about drug use like he didn’t once have a thousand dollar a day lean addiction. I understand his intention is to motivate his readers. However, I didn’t find his message inspiring at all. Which leads me to my next reason for a 2⭐️ review.

* While Gucci’s autobiography was informative, this book was a little braggadocio. Can anyone say...uhhh arrogant!

* I found the book more fitting for teenagers. It may be good for those that are just beginning to learn the ropes in life.
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Now that I have shared what I found displeasing about the book, here are some things that I did like...

* The book is filled page after page of beautiful pictures of Gucci Mane. I would say about 50% of 247 pages in the book are pictures,and this is why it was such a quick read.

* I love the gold book cover.

* The quality of the paper is great.
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Gucci admits in this book that he plans to write many more books because this is an income stream for him. I don’t think I’ll read anymore of his books. In my opinion, we may have already gotten the best of Gucci in his first book.

[Meagan Kenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This man turned on speech-to-text and spoke into his phone for 4 hours to create this book, and listen, I liked it lmao. Is it for everyone? No. Should you go into this book with high expectations? No, but it was good for what it was: a little chat with Gucci Mane.

[Brenda Stice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure what I was expecting but this was not for me. It was a shallow, pull yourself up by your bootstraps self-help book. I hope the message is received by those that need to hear it, but this book was not cutting it for me. A few redeeming points that were driven home: (1) take care of your body and your mind first and foremost; (2) surround yourself with people that further your purpose and goals (and quit hanging on to those that are toxic to you; (3) his devotion to his wife and respect of women was the best part. This book stands for, regardless of your race/gender/traumas, I made it so you can too and if you can dream it you can do it bigger and better. Just seemed very unrealistic to me. I respect the guy and know he has worked hard not only for his career, but for his health. Perhaps more reflection would have helped.

[KnowledgeSpecter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a semi-autobiography mixed with principles Gucci Mane lives by.

I found the book pretty basic. It wasn’t any information to ponder on. It was like listening through your “motivational video” on YouTube.

Some of the tips were good but I would’ve liked the book more if Gucci Mane expanded on them.

key takeaways: stay on your grind, don’t give yourself any excuses, take care of your health, stay ambitious

[Sydney Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick predictable read, but good motivation.

[Ryan Blackman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine reading a high school book report based on fortune cookies instead of a book. With tons of pictures to help bump up the page count.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finessed the plug / I got extra drugs

[Noga A]

🪷

[Norie · Rating 3 out of 5]

i feel like this book had a lot of good ideas and words of motivation, it was just a bit repetitive and even though he was trying to generalize things to make the content more accessible to everyone, i was finding little to relate to. one thing about gucci mane though is that he seems like a dude who takes NO BULLSHIT and that’s probably the most useful tool to take away from this

i am NOT a nonfiction girl so sometimes it’s hard to get into! so to help with this one i switched between my physical copy and the audiobook!!

[Kandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book!

A lot of self help books seem to be about perspective.
Some advice that was given I would do, and some I would not.
I do like how the authors worked together to make the book an experience.

There were lots of photos of Gucci through various times of his life, that i'd never seen. There were stories I had never heard. Above all there were things I could walk away from the book and put to use into my own life.

It was a fun, easy read.

[Orsayor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Gucci’s first book but wasn’t a big fan of this one. Gucci gave the standard “You can do it…” then in the next sentence it felt like he was saying - “That’s if you really want to but you probably won’t do it anyway.” I’m paraphrasing but that’s how it came across in the book.

It’s not the worse book I have read by far, but I felt this book was surface level writing - no real connection.

I would recommend this book to diehard Gucci fans, but overall there’s nothing new to see here.

[Sarah Browning · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few great points in this book, but I'm not sure it really helped me with my personal greatness.

[Amy Prosenjak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read it because a friend said they loved it ... pretty repetitive and simple but definitely positive. “You either practice quitting or you practice winning.”

[Talia Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love gucci but i don’t love this book

[Fran Britschgi · Rating 2 out of 5]

My vp gave me this and it was sort of a joke but it had some gems

[Aleem! · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not feel like Gucci Mane in 2006 😔

[Drina Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I may not be a fan of his artistry or music, it is good to read his encouraging, inspiring, book to help you get your greatness. Yes, he shares his greatness and shares photos and his wife/wedding pics, seems like pics everywhere that can come off a bit narcissistic; however, if you are a fan, you might like looking at all these photos mainly shirtless with tattoos (tatted). Yet, I like the motivation given and nuggets of wisdom to apply: "demand more out of yourself. Demand to that you'll do it right. Do it in silence." In essence, he is saying that we have a moral mindset or compass, and demand more from yourself and not to sell yourself short and this happens inwardly, or soul-ly, and learning what you are saying to self.

Work library order to catalog and enjoying this read so far.

Dislike: the photo in B&W holding his middle finger in the air. You speak of "greatness" and supposed to be "inspirational or motivational" minus this photo would help!
He has a chapter on "choose your friends carefully" I usually say "wisely" in place of "carefully" but then pics of other rappers, youngster with both fingers in the air thinking it is cute with a smile on his face.

Like(s): He compliments "women" as a whole, and how men do not know it all and take her advice. Sees everything. "Listen closely to whoever the woman in your life is. She's a genius. She's watching you. You're important to her. She will communicate with you, especially if she sees you as important to her, and this is for your benefit (paraphrased 104).

[Vincent Leiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning I found it hard to get into Gucci Manes style of writing. The man wrote basically the same way he talked! But towards the middle of the book it started to grow on me and I found his motivation toward work ethic and marriage to be the best part of the book!!

[Rinie Nanayakkara · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because it’s Gucci Mane.

[jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

upon rereading, I think due to some gained life experience, this is simply no longer inspiring to me. #7 of only books I own (will be giving this one to a friend)

[Bram · Rating 3 out of 5]

GUCCI IS KING

[Keisha Howie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those chew the meat & spit out the bones/if it don’t apply, let it fly kind of books. Everything is not going to apply to you or inspire you but there are some good tidbits in there.

[Tabatha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a 1

[Asad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished Gucci Manes second book and I’ve also read the first. Great self talk book. This first book is a story and maps out his journey with everything from his past to his future.

This book talks on self reflection and most of the things Gucci mentions, we’ve already spoken to ourselves about some where in our lives, the book is just a reminder to help remember those things. As well as helping us touch upon self talk again, it is written by a successful individual and real life journey so it’s a good source to be listening too.. Read this book to get back into the swing of things or just to balance yourself out and continue your own journey!!

I personally missed out the last chapter when he talks about his female partner. Reason being, I don’t have a partner anymore, I’m alone in that sense and didnt feel like reading it so I skipped it to be honest.. the heart eh?

Overall a good book to touch base.


It’s Gucci!!!

[Kaleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

With most self help books, most of the “help” given is very similar throughout the books. Gucci Mane does a good job of sprinkling his own set of knowledge and experiences to the book. Some of the information was a little redundant and I would’ve liked more of his experiences to read about. Maybe he’ll give those stories to us in another book. The pictures in the book are fantastic. It was cool to see the Gucci through the years and the transformation that he’s done with his body and life.

BURRRRR!

[Nigel Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the book was great as it pertains to inspiration. Even though he may not be the best writer in this book, I think if you are open, you will gain something from this book.

[kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish these books affected me, but they don’t. Feels like the title of the chapter is all you needed.

[John Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆ This was a good well written book, when you read this, you can tell he thought about it and took time ti make this book.

Gucci mane Guide to Greatness is highly recommend for anyone who needs motivation and anyone who wants to know more about Gucci or if you just want to read a good book to figure out your own recipe to success as I call it.

Pros-4 things
-the book is well written, and it has a different structure from most books which makes it better for example chapter 1 then there's 3 or more points/quotes in each chapter welly explained.
-some not all quotes are things that no one will think about. His life stories where very heart touching and the way he grew up and how he got to who was today which is basically his backstory. His backstory was really good and well written/explained.
-This was a very inspiring book to read it will make you like him even more as a person and not just a rapper/superstar and maybe even a model for someone.

A lot of people have disagreed with me and they think this the most self-helped, most predictable and blunt book they ever read which is harsh to me. I disagree with that because when reading I feel like the author really put his heart into making the book and for people to call it predictable is not true. People also said that it wasn’t something they have read before so I necessary can't agree or disagree with that because I don’t know that person, but I think there older than me which means they possibly could have read more books than me which makes their opinion possible.

Cons- 3 things
-there was a part where he was talking about how he was big, and he needed to maintain his weight I feel like that didn’t need to be there, but it was good touch to the book.
-To be honest I wouldn’t recommend this book if you have already heard a bunch of motivation and life learning lessons because you may have already heard most of things he is saying.
-lastly, if you don’t lie a lot of slang you may not be able to read this book so easily as most people .

Overall- In conclusion, TO ME I overalled liked the book because of the structure of the text, life stories, personal life lessons, and good quotes that you will not forget and also the motivation and how inspiring this book is will probably would want to make you read it again.

[Rylee ODonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness by Gucci Mane with Soren Baker was published on October 13th, 2020. The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness is a Self Help motivation story. The story takes place over Gucci Mane’s life and career. Gucci writes from the perspective of himself, about himself and his experiences. Throughout the book, Gucci Mane goes over the course of his life and writes about times when he was struggling and had to push himself to stay motivated. Gucci demonstrates the importance of staying motivated and how it changed his life for the better. Many times he reflected back on how motivation played a role in the growth of his career, along with his health journey and massive weight loss. Not only does he talk about his experiences, but he uses examples to explain how his tactics can be used in everyday life. This story is all about motivation and how to apply it to one’s life. A perfect story for the current times. Personally, I really enjoyed this book. I appreciate Gucci’s honesty in his books. Despite being a big-time hip-hop artist he wasn’t afraid to admit that he gave up drinking and drugs because it’s what he needed to do to better himself and his quality of life. Throughout the book, he wrote with an encouraging attitude and really highlighted the importance of never giving up. I love Gucci’s eagerness to share how he gained his successes and how the reader can do it too. I have read both of Gucci Mane’s books and I greatly enjoy them because Gucci has always been brutally honest and shares every detail. I enjoy the insight on the music industry, and celebrity life, both were consistent themes in both of his books. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone that’s struggling to stay motivated. Lack of motivation is very common in the current circumstances with many working from home, or doing online classes/school, so this book is up with modern times.