Book Review: Tattoos On The Heart by Gregory Boyle

Wednesday 7 July, 2010 By 7 Comments

Title: Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
Author: Gregory Boyle
Publisher: Free Press
Publication Date: March 9, 2010
Hardcover: 240 pages
ISBN: 9781439153024
Genre: Biography & Autobiography

From the Publisher:

How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart amply demonstrates the impact unconditional love can have on your life.

As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training, and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. Tattoos on the Heart is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio. Arranged by theme and filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally. From giant, tattooed Cesar, shopping at JCPenney fresh out of prison, we learn how to feel worthy of God’s love. From ten-year-old Lula we learn the importance of being known and acknowledged. From Pedro we understand the kind of patience necessary to rescue someone from the darkness. In each chapter we benefit from Boyle’s wonderful, hard-earned wisdom. Inspired by faith but applicable to anyone trying to be good, these personal, unflinching stories are full of surprising revelations and observations of the community in which Boyle works and of the many lives he has helped save.

Erudite, down-to-earth, and utterly heartening, these essays about universal kinship and redemption are moving examples of the power of unconditional love in difficult times and the importance of fighting despair. With Gregory Boyle’s guidance, we can recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of the men and women in these parables and learn to find joy in all of the people around us. Tattoos on the Heart reminds us that no life is less valuable than another.

My Review:

Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle is a deeply moving, heartwarming series of essays from some of the most memorable times of Father Boyle’s career. Father Boyle has been a Jesuit Priest for 25 years working with many sections of the population that others deem frightening at best, including his work at his beloved Dolores Mission and the creation of Homeboy Industries (which is brilliant and what he refers to as a “tiny drop in a pretty big bucket” yet one we all could learn from), creating jobs for gang members in Los Angeles, working in the gang laden barrios of Los Angeles, at juvenile detention centers, probation camps, as well as at prisons. Tattoos on the Heart is not an autobiography of Father Gregory Boyle’s life and works but rather a collection of essays if you will, showing examples of grace, forgiveness, love, compassion, and faith. Father Boyle shows us how we are all ultimately looking for the same things in life. Through his book the reader comes to know those whom Father Boyle befriends and in turn the reader learns valuable life lessons from some of the most hardened of criminals and gang members. Tattoos on the Heart is exquisitely written, full of life and love, and Father Boyle allows the reader a glimpse into his heart and the hearts of others offering up one of the most memorable non-fiction books I have read in a long time. I would not hesitate to recommend Tattoos on the Heart to anyone, religious or not, the stories speak for themselves.

About the Author:

Father Gregory Boyle was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1982. He received his Master of Divinity from the Weston School of Theology; and a Sacred Theology Masters degree from the Jesuit School of Theology. In 1988, Father Boyle began what would become Homeboy Industries, now located in downtown Los Angeles. Fr. Greg received the California Peace Prize, the “Humanitarian of the Year” Award from Bon Appétit; the Caring Institute’s 2007 Most Caring People Award; and received the 2008 Civic Medal of Honor from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

Since 1986, Father Gregory has been the pastor of Dolores Mission in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The church sits between two large public housing projects, Pico Gardens and Aliso Village, known for decades as the gang capital of the world. There are 1,100 gangs encompassing 86,000 members in Los Angeles, and Boyle Heights has the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in the city. Since Father Greg—also known affectionately as G-dog, started Homeboy Industries nearly twenty years ago, it has served members of more than half of the gangs in Los Angeles. In Homeboy Industries’ various businesses—baking, silkscreening, landscaping—gang affiliations are left outside as young people work together, side by side, learning the mutual respect that comes from building something together.

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I received a complimentary copy of Tattoos On the Heart by Gregory Boyle from Condor Book Tours to read and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review and Tour: 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan

Wednesday 7 July, 2010 By 8 Comments

Title: 31 Bond Street
Author: Ellen Horan
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: March 30, 2010
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0061773969
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the Publisher:

Who killed Dr. Harvey Burdell?

Though there are no witnesses and no clues, fingers point to Emma Cunningham, the refined, pale-skinned widow who managed Burdell’s house and his servants. Rumored to be a black-hearted gold digger with designs on the doctor’s name and fortune, Emma is immediately put under house arrest during a murder investigation. A swift conviction is sure to catapult flamboyant district attorney Abraham Oakey Hall into the mayor’s seat. But one formidable obstacle stands in his way: the defense attorney Henry Clinton. Committed to justice and the law, Clinton will aid the vulnerable widow in her desperate fight to save herself from the gallows.

Set in 1857 New York, this gripping mystery is also a richly detailed excavation of a lost age. Horan vividly re-creates a tumultuous era characterized by a sensationalist press, aggressive new wealth, a booming real-estate market, corruption, racial conflict, economic inequality between men and women, and the erosion of the old codes of behavior. A tale of murder, sex, greed, and politics, this spellbinding narrative transports readers to a time that eerily echoes our own.

My Review:

In 1857, Dr. Harvey Burdell of 31 Bond Street, New York, was murdered in his home and the case was never solved, becoming the basis for Ellen Horan’s historical fiction book 31 Bond Street. In Horan’s version she writes of the bumbling coroner Connelly, a fevered press leading to mobs of people out for vengeance, a slipshod investigation and Hall, the District Attorney who needs an expeditious conviction as he has higher political aspirations. The surest conviction would be to place the blame on Dr. Burdell’s driver, Samuel, yet he has vanished, most likely in fear of the Fugitive Slave Act so the powers that be turned to their next best suspect, the housemistress, Mrs. Emma Cunningham, widower and mother to two daughters. While under house detention, Emma pens a letter to Henry Clinton, a defense attorney who, against his wife’s advice, decides to take her case with the aid of young John, who worked for Dr. Burdell and can freely leave the house. John soon becomes Clinton’s eyes and ears. Horan weaves together a fascinating tale of a city growing, unrest in the country over slavery, the abuse of power, greed, indiscretion, and infidelity. 31 Bond Street is filled with actual copies of the newspaper clipping and while some of the book is historical fact other parts are pure conjecture. Horan paints a vivid, if not depressing, image of the ever growing trade town, the division of the haves and have nots, and the lengths people will go to for their own personal gain. The narrative is split primarily between Emma and Clinton. Emma takes the reader back to when she first met Dr. Burdell to present day whereas Henry Clinton speaks of the present and the investigation. While 31 Bond Street is a fictionalised historical mystery, a good portion of the book is spent in the courtroom as well as showing the reader New York society in 1857. It is interesting to see how the laws and procedures have changed over the past two centuries. While the characters are described in detail, I felt little for any save Henry, Elizabeth, and John. 31 Bond Street is an engaging mystery, with a page turning courtroom drama and some extraordinary twists and turns along the way, culminating in an explosive ending. I recommend 31 Bond Street to anyone looking for an exciting historical fiction mystery with courtroom drama.

About the Author:

Ellen Horan is a photo editor for books and magazines, Ellen Horan has worked on staff and in a freelance capacity for many publications, including Vanity Fair , Vogue , House & Garden , Forbes , and ARTnews , as well as for a number of book publishers. 31 Bond Street is her first novel.

For Book Clubs information about author chats, and discussion questions.
The 31 Bond Street website.
Read an excerpt here.

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I received a complimentary copy of 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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