<B>In a harrowing journey from drugged-out gang member to one of the most revered figures in Chicano literature and American letters, Luis J. Rodríguez continues the remarkable story of his bestselling memoir, <I>Always Running.</I></B> <P>Hundreds of thousands of readers came to know Luis J. Rodríguez through his fearless classic, <I>Always Running</I>, which chronicled his early life as a young Chicano gang member surviving the dangerous streets of East Los Angeles. The long-awaited follow-up, and the winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award, <I>It Calls You Back </I>is the equally harrowing story of Rodríguez's attempt to start over, at age eighteen, after his final stint in jail and nearly a decade of gang life. He describes with heartbreaking honesty his challenges as a father, and his difficulty leaving his rages and addictions completely behind. Even as he breaks with “la vida loca” and begins to discover success as a writer and an activist, Rodríguez finds that his past—the crimes, the drugs, the things he'd seen and done—has a way of calling him back. <P>When his oldest son is sent to prison for attempted murder, Rodríguez is forced to confront his shortcomings as a father and to acknowledge how and why his own history is repeating itself, right before his eyes.