It Calls You Back

Always Running was a compelling autobiographical account of author Luis Rodriguez's life growing up as a Latino gang member in the mean streets of Watts and East Los Angeles. He explored the motivations of gang life and cautions against the death and destruction that inevitably claims its participants. With over 400,000 in print since 1995, Always Running remains timely and at once vivid, raw and powerful; a fierce lyrical journey of one man's break from gang life. Rodriguez not only demonstrated that one can rise above a seemingly predetermined destiny, but his triumph of a book, stands as an inspiration to the human spirit, and a powerful depiction of the state of urban youth in America. Always Running is now widely regarded as a classic of Chicano literature and is used in schools throughout the country to teach students about the perils of gang life.

"St. Regis was one of the impediments to falling back into the barrio and the craziness this would lead to. This was because the drugs, the homies, the homegirls, the excitement and violence often called me back. For so long this was all I knew. I didn't return much to the old neighborhood but when I did I fell back into the hole." --excerpted from It Calls You Back

IT CALLS YOU BACK: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions and Healing (Touchstone Hardcover / Simon & Schuster; October 4, 2011; 978-1-4165-8416-2; $24.99) is the highly anticipated sequel of Luis Rodriguez, now chronicling his harrowing journey from gang member to one of the most revered figures in Chicano literature and American letters. In his second memoir, Rodriguez shows his post-gang life which contained even more drama and turmoil than the life he depicted so vividly in Always Running.

Growing up on the streets of East Los Angeles, Luis Rodriguez narrowly escaped injury in gang shootings and avoided long-term jail sentences, including arrests for attempted murder and assaulting police officers. He then struggled to overcome his powerful addiction to heroin and alcohol-his recovery became a colorful, tumultuous journey. He worked in a series of jobs, including in a steel mill; married several times; fathered four children; ran for political office; traveled the world; established a poetry press, community center, and bookstore; and became an internationally respected gang interventionist. Eventually, Rodriguez embarked on a career as a successful writer and highly regarded poet. But his life was no rags-to-riches fairy tale.

In IT CALLS YOU BACK, Rodriguez describes with heartbreaking honesty his challenges as a husband and a father and his difficulty leaving his rages and addictions completely behind. Most disturbing is the terrifying realization that he cannot save his own son Ramiro from the deadly lure of gang life. At the age of 21, with two previous violent felony convictions, Ramiro was sentenced to 28 years in prison (he was released in the summer of 2010 after serving a total of fifteen years). Luis's emotional journey offers deep insight into barrio life and the embattled souls of those heroic men and women who risk everything to make it out of violence and despair-and return to help those left behind.

The son of Mexican immigrants, Luis Rodriguez began writing in his early teens and has won national recognition as a poet, journalist, fiction writer, children's book writer, and critic. Rodriguez co-founded Tia Chucha Press and Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore, a cultural center in Northeast San Fernando Valley. He is currently working as a peacemaker among gangs on a national and international level. He has appeared on national television, radio and has an extensive speaking schedule. Please visit his website at http://www.luisjrodriguez.com/.