G-dog And The Homeboys: Father Greg Boyle And The Gangs Of East Los Angeles

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Summary: Whenever in Doubt.....
Review: After so many years of trials and tribulations I am amazed and proud of you for allowing your drive and passion to get you through all of the dangerous situations you were in during the voyage we called our lives. I can relive all those memories by gracing your pages you delicately have put together It has been quite an adventurous ride.
Great Book!!

The Grand Wizard....

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Summary: The Chronicles of RoseDog
Review: Between dodging bullets of homeboys and donning the babies of homegirls as their godmother, Celeste Fremon (Rosedog) has buried many children who grew up in a war zone where bloodshed and death are intermingled with their earliest memories.

Celeste's expertise in the areas of street gangs, gang violence and juvenile issues allowed her to take you deep in the lives of the homeboys of Boyle Heights in East LA (one of the toughest and most violent neighborhoods in Los Angeles).

Imagining triumphs and success seems impossible for most of the gang member she has chronicled from childhood into adulthood over a period of nearly fifteen years. But, some have shined, some have died, some have developed into responsible adults largely due to the work of Father Greg Boyle (G-Dog) who has dedicated his life, to rehabilitate these children.

The book recounts how Father Greg evolved from an inexperienced young priest to the director of Homeboy Industries, the country's largest gang intervention program and most successful model for gang rehabilitation.

The new chapters bring you up to date not only with "G-Dog" and his labor of love, but with many of the young gang members who are now young men and women.


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Summary: We teach what we live....
Review: Celeste Fremon has written an unforgetable first hand account of the journey of the remarkable Greg Boyle and his homeboys--and girls. After years of covering these people and their stories, no reporter knows this scene from the inside out quite like Fremon. It is a deeply moving, maddening and ultimately compassionate account of one man who insists that every life is worth saving. And while you're at it, check out the Homeboy Industries website.

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Summary: Inspiration and then some!
Review: I love this book. G- Dog And The Homeboys is completely inspiring. The writing is compelling and Celeste Fremon is the consummate storyteller. I never thought that I would find myself experiencing the level of compassion I felt for these so called gang members. Ms. Fremon humanizes the characters like no one else. It is also rare that we meet someone such as Father Greg Boyle who has made these young men and women his adopted family and has created the nations largest gang intervention program helping these kids to turn their lives around. If you need some inspiration and a dose of humanity G-Dog And The Homeboys is it!

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Summary: Classic narrative finally back in print!
Review: In the early 1990's, Celeste Fremon (frequent contributor to the LA Weekly) shadowed Father Greg Boyle S.J. as he tirelessly worked to improve (read: SAVE) the lives of disinfranchased gang members from the Pico/Aliso "hood" in East Los Angeles. Her resulting, richly descriptive narrative covers the gauntlet of tragedies and triumphs pervading life in a war zone. The fact that this particular war zone is but a handful of miles from downtown Beverly Hills, one of the richest cities in America, is profound.

In short, this is an important and unforgettable book that will richly supplement any college class focused on issues of social justice. Hopefully, this reprint (and new title...)will afford Fremon's work the wider attention, and study, it deserves.

Includes new chapters which bring readers up to date not ony with "G-Dog" and his work, but with many of the young men and women who populate the original narrative. -ZH