The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness [Paperback]

Beloved Jesuit priest and author of the inspirational bestsellersTattoos on the HeartandBarking to the Choirreturns with a call to witness the transformative power of tenderness, rooted in his lifetime of experience counseling gang members in Los Angeles.

Over the past thirty years, Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang-intervention program in the world. Now, following his acclaimed bestsellersTattoos on the Heart, “destined to become a classic of both urban reportage and contemporary spirituality” (Los Angeles Times), andBarking to the Choir, deemed “a beautiful and important and soul-transporting book” by Elizabeth Gilbert comesThe Whole Language, a book that “filled my cup with hope” (The Jesuit Review).

In a community struggling to overcome systemic poverty and violence,The Whole Languageshows how those at Homeboy Industries fight despair and remain generous, hopeful, and tender. When Saul was thirteen years old, he killed his abusive stepfather in self-defense; after spending twenty-three years in juvenile and adult jail, he enters the Homeboy Industries training and healing programs and embraces their mission. Declaring, “I’ve decided to grow up to be somebody I always needed as a child,” Saul shows tenderness toward the young men in his former shoes, treating them all like his sons and helping them to find their way. Before coming to Homeboy Industries, a young man named Abel was shot thirty-three times, landing him in a coma for six months followed by a year and a half recuperating in the hospital. He now travels on speaking tours with Boyle and gives guided tours around the Homeboy offices. One day a new trainee joins Abel as a shadow, and Abel recognizes him as the young man who had put him in a coma. “You give good tourlÃS