| Smile Now, Cry Later: Guns, Gangs, and Tattoos-My Life in Black and Gray Contributor(s): Negrete, Freddy (Author), Jones, Steve (Author), Rodriguez, Luis (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 1609806948 ISBN-13: 9781609806941 Publisher: Seven Stories Press OUR PRICE: $27.00 Product Type: Hardcover Published: August 2016 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Artists, Architects, Photographers - Biography & Autobiography | Criminals & Outlaws - Art | Body Art & Tattooing |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2016943041 |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 6.2" W x 9.2" (1.35 lbs) 352 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Pioneering black-and-gray tattoo artist Freddy Negrete was twelve years old and confined in the holding cell of a Los Angeles juvenile facility when an older teenager entered--covered in tattoos. Freddy was in awe, not just of the art, but of what it symbolized, and he wanted what this kid had: the potent sense of empowerment and belonging that came from joining a gang. The encounter drove Freddy to join the notorious gang La Sangra, and it didn't take long before he was a regular guest at LA County's juvenile detention facilities. By the age of twenty-one, Freddy had spent almost his whole life as a ward of the state in one form or the other. Enthralled by the black-and-gray tattoo style that in the 1970s was confined to the rebel culture of Chicano gangsters and criminals, Freddy started inking himself with hand-poked tattoos. Everyone wanted a piece of Freddy's black-and-gray style--gangbangers but also Hollywood starlets and film producers. In a riveting narrative that takes the reader from Freddy's days as a cholo gang member to evangelical preacher to Hollywood body art guru to addiction counselor, Smile Now, Cry Later is, ultimately, a testament to that spark within us all, that catalyst which gives us the strength to survive, transform, and transcend all that can destroy us. |