Memoir Mondays — Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle
A new breed of priest/philanthropist writes a touching memoir that manages to stay lighthearted and positive about one of the America’s most severe and daunting problems: gang violence.
Here’s how it CATCHes readers:
Character — Although told from the perspective of Father Gregory Boyle, the real faces of the story are made from the hundreds of gang members he’s crossed path’s with in Los Angeles. These characters — often voiceless — are given a megaphone to shine their true colors by Boyle. We meet them, empathize with them and finally befriend them — sitting with them up until their often tragic ends (Boyle has buried over 150 ‘homies’ over the years). He allows their voices to echo in parts of this book as much as his own.
Adventure — Part of the fascination with the book comes from the real-life danger encountered around every corner in the neighborhoods where Boyle works and lives. With the problems being realer than the TV screen, readers are drawn in by a burning desire not just to see the violence but to discover what solutions might look like. In this way, the action isn’t only dark. Solutions and progress and hope exist too.
“In my early, crazy days doing this work with gangs, I will admit I was totally out of whack. I’d ride my bike, in the middle of the night, in the projects, trying to put out fires (“Put that Uzi Down”; “Now you sure you wanna shoot that guy?”) trying to “save lives” is much like the guy spinning plates on Ed Sullivan, attempting to keep them from crashing to the floor. I’d look for the wobblers. Who was about to smash into a million pieces?— and then I’d be frantic to keep that homie from self destructing. It was crazy-making, and I came close to the sun, to the immolation that comes from burning out completely win the delusion of actually “saving” people. ”
Tribulation — When life itself seems a life-or-death trial by fire, the stakes are high. The lives of the gang members Boyle seeks to help are in constant tribulation. Providing refuge isn’t always welcome but more importantly, for Boyle’s story, he’s not always doing it right. Lessons in how-to-help are essential if his help is every going to work.
Culture — Language choices can really give meaning to a memoir’s culture. Being that the community Boyle works in is largely Spanish speaking, he interjects a kind of Spanglish on the page. It illuminates both how the gang members speak and how infused parts of the greater Los Angeles culture is with Spanish-speaking ideas and sensibilities.
Honesty — Being a priest, it might be expected that Boyle would shy away from the violence, chaos and explicit environment he works in. He doesn’t. In fact, he even goes as far as included a good number of curse words tossed around (in both English and Spanish) that help establish authenticity in his and the community’s story. Ultimately aligning with his thesis of being truthful and unabashed to stand with them, even on the page. Eliminating that distance in the memoir’s text helps its overall purpose succeed.
CATCH score: 10/10