Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship
Written and Narrated By: Gregory Boyle
Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
Pondering theology one gang member at a time
I really loved Gregory Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart. It was gut-wrenching, brutal, and endlessly loving. But I gotta say, Barking to the Choir, in comparison, is less stories and more quotes and snippets. Kinda a: Gang Members Say the Darnedest Things sort of book (which Boyle says he does NOT want it to be. Uhm, it IS…!).
In Barking to the Choir, a mixing of metaphors by a former gang member, Boyle ponders Scripture and the love of God and of Jesus, and he tries to bring it all down to earth, I suppose hoping we all can use such compassion in our daily lives.
But it’s written in such a hither dither way, everything is so mixed up, that I had to keep going back to the chapter titles to try to figure out just what kind of a point he was attempting to make. He’ll start a concept, say, maybe about forgiveness, will quote Scripture, will toss off a few gang-related anecdotes, will ponder more Scripture, then he’ll throw in more quotes gang-members said, then he’ll tie it up with a final short sentence which is supposed to encompass ALL of it in a neat little bundle.
I mean, HUH?
Don’t get me wrong, though. I really liked it a lot. He brings a human face, human needs and emotions, to that ever-fearful being: the gang member, and you’ll feel so much for people who can be quite frightening, if you’re simply judging them by their choices, by their actions. Most of all, he brings to light some really horrific childhoods, abuse galore, violence, drug-addiction, prostitution, all seen in the home by little children who just want security and a little bit of love. A lot of them were thrown out of their homes and left homeless even though their ages were in the single digits. Unbelievable.
Then too, I really respect and admire what Boyle’s Homeboy Industries is doing: giving work that brings a real paycheck, and real respect, to those who would have no way of earning money and who could easily wind up dealing drugs. It unites young (and older) men and women of rival gangs and shows them each their common humanity. In one instance, one homeboy needs something and who should come to the rescue but his new friend, someone from a rival gang whom he would’ve easily killed in his former life.
It’s a really touching audiobook that works because of the many stories of pre-gang life, of post-gang life. And Boyle narrating it himself adds to it, though at times his voice is so gravelly I was wondering if he smoked a pack a day or something. My only problem is that it jumps around so much, and it doesn’t stick to a point.
But it you’re not in it to conclusively “learn something”, then you’re in for a wonderful ride. It’s funny, it’s moving, and every now and again a very poignant point is made. Not Tattoos on the Heart, but still very good.
By the way? I’ll get around to reviewing THAT book SOMEtime…!
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