By Daily Mess staff
PICO NEIGHBORHOOD — Excerpts from a book yet to be published are already raising eyebrows, wherein former Daily Mess staff writer Ryan Hyatt alleges that a “substantial majority” of gang members during the years between 1998 and 2003 were on the “juice,” or anabolic steroids.
As a result, any statistics kept and tallied during those years will be inflated as compared to those compiled in another era. The tell-all book has been, in turns, hailed and derailed, the latter mindset spearheaded by literary critics and gang aficionados who call it “unnecessarily sensational” and “a tabloid money grab.”
Still, Hyatt stands by his reporting, alluding to case after case of notorious gang members bulking up, and in many cases requiring bigger sized do rags, from season to season.
“It just takes away from the integrity of the numbers,” said Hyatt, as he shaved his rapidly sprouting back hair. “In the old days, bangers had to work out with whatever they could find — manhole covers, rebar, stacks of discarded literature — whatever.”
Hyatt will be signing copies of his book “When you’re a Jet on the Juice” at the Midnight Special bookstore on Saturday, from 1 a.m. until opening.
Even so, the rent on a studio apartment in Santa Monica is $1,500, even south of the 10. Street parking is not included.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 1, 2006. Read the original PDF.