“Vivid, raw . . . fierce, and fearless . . . Here’s truth no television set, burning night and day, could ever begin to offer.” —The New York Times
Today marks Open Road Integrated Media’s ebook publication of four titles by Luis J. Rodríguez, including his stunning memoir, Always Running.
Rodríguez joined his first gang at age eleven. As a teenager, he witnessed the rise of some of the most notorious cliques and sets in Southern California and immersed himself in a life of violence—one that revolved around drugs, gang wars, and police brutality. But unlike most of those around him, Rodríguez found a way out when art, writing, and political activism rescued him from the brink of self-destruction.
Always Running, first published in 1993 and released by Open Road Media with a new introduction, spares no detail in its vivid, brutally honest portrayal of street life and violence. It stands as a powerful and unforgettable testimonial of gang life, by one of the most acclaimed Chicano writers of his generation.
Three collections of poetry will join Always Running. The Concrete River depicts urban pain and immigrant alienation, but hums with a current of genuine beauty and the pulse of life. Trochemoche (Spanish for “helter-skelter”) conjures life in the barrio, whether in a slum in a Texas border town or in Los Angeles, the vast, hectic, California metropolis where Rodríguez grew up. My Nature Is Hunger, which gathers selected poems from 1989 to 2004, represents the best of Rodríguez’s lyrical work during his most prolific period as a poet, a time when he carefully documented the rarely heard voices of immigrants and the urban poor.
Extra content includes:
Behind-the-scenes author commentary at the Open Road Media Luis J. Rodríguez Author Page
An illustrated biography in each ebook, including never-before-seen photographs and documents from Rodríguez’s personal life and distinguished career
Available June 12, 2012, from Amazon.com, Apple iBookstore, Barnesandnoble.com, Google eBookstore/IndieBound, Kobo Books, Sony Reader Store, and OverDrive:
Always Running
The Concrete River
Trochemoche
My Nature Is Hunger
Tweet/share this: “Always Running” by Luis J. Rodriguez now available from @OpenRoadMedia with 3 poetry collections: bit.ly/LEcw2Y
Suggested hashtags: #LuisJRodriguez, #Chicano, #Poetry, #Memoir, #Trochemoche, #MyNatureIsHunger, #AlwaysRunning, #The Concrete River #Latino #Latinolit #LATISM #books #ebooks
