Used Book in Good Condition</br></br>Product Description</br></br><b>Expanded paperback edition of the acclaimed <i>New York Times </i>bestseller features 16 pages of new material?? including 3 new songs decoded.</b><br> ?<br> <i>Decoded </i>is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture?? an art form?? a moment in history?? and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time.</br></br>Amazon.com Review</br></br><strong>Amazon Best Books of the Month?? November 2010</strong>: Like its multi-hyphenate author?? Jay-Z?? <em>Decoded </em>is many things at once. At its core?? <em>Decoded </em>is an eloquent and candid memoir detailing the story of a man who was born in a Brooklyn housing project?? spent his teen years dealing drugs on the streets of Trenton?? New Jersey?? and grew up to be one of his generation??s most successful "usinessmen. But <em>Decoded </em>is much more than a memoir: it is an intensely personal homage to hip-hop?? as written by a man who so clearly adores the art form; it is a rare glimpse of the unexpectedly deep meanings behind the most recognizable rap lyrics of the last decade; and it is a truly moving collection of essays on topics ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the decline of the music industry. Unconventional type design?? line drawings?? and photographs visually emphasize the author??s message that rap is a form that transcends and defies easy categorization. There??s not much in the way of celebrity gossip here?? but what we get?? instead?? is a gritty and enormously compelling look inside the cultural phenomenon of rap?? from one of the men who contributed so much to its shape.    <em>--Juliet Disparte</em> <span class="ng><br /><br />Jay-Z on <em>Decoded</em></strong></span> <p>When you're famous and say you're writing a book?? people assume that it's an autobiography--I was born here?? raised there?? suffered this?? loved that?? lost it all?? got it back?? the end.  But that's not what this is.  I've never been a linear thinker?? which is something you can see in my rhymes.  They follow the jumpy logic of poetry and emotion?? no