Steve Jones | Author | Playwright | Screenwriter
by Freddy Negrete and Steve Jones
Smile Now, Cry Later
Guns, Gangs and Tattoo—My Life in Black and Gray
"MANY WAYS, Freddy Negrete’s life is the life of Los Angeles. It is a life lived out on the edge, mapping the fringes of the city’s experience, showcasing the dramatic contours of the Wild West. It traces the story of a throbbing postwar Los Angeles sprawl, but also unpacks the unique drama of Negrete himself, the gangbanger-turned-artist."
Read the full book review by Jason S Sexton "Black-and-Gray Realism" in The Los Angeles Review of Books here.
Smile Now, Cry Later: Guns, Gangs and Tattoos—My Life in Black and Gray was released in hardcover by Seven Stories Press, New York on August 30th, 2016.
It is also available on Kindle.
Distribution: Penguin Random House Publisher Services.
“Few have lived a life like Freddy Negrete…even fewer, with the assistance of his excellent co-author Steve Jones, could have captured his journey so completely, and put it to writing so compellingly.”
“This is one of the most moving, original, and ultimately uplifting memoirs, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
“It’s authenticity…the fact that the text is so accessible encourages the students to stick with [Negrete’s] story, and gives us a lens through which we can process Latino/a experiences across time, place, and space.” —
“This book had a profound effect on me. I cried, I smiled, I read parts that I completely identified with. The main feeling I have after reading this book is a better understanding of life.”
“…an incredibly literate personal tale that transcends Latin American culture, gang lifestyle, and incarceration. It’s a story of purpose and triumph, and it’s truly remarkable.”
“Freddy Negrete’s former life is as dark and forbidding as a thick lined skull tattoo on the face of a menacing gangbanger…one hell of a journey. This memoir by Negrete and Steve Jones is riveting and intense and I couldn’t put it down.”
About Steve Jones
Steve Jones is an author, commissioned screenwriter (book adaptations) and playwright. His first foray into writing was as a contributor to Page magazine in Germany where he wrote articles on digital design. This was followed by the publication of an Apple Macintosh troubleshooting/utilities book for International Thompson which was written in the German language and published in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Steve is also the co-author of ‘Smile Now, Cry Later: Guns, Gangs and Tattoos—My Life In Black and Gray’ published by Seven Stories Press, New York in August, 2016.
His first play, ‘Cracked Eggs’ was staged at the Finborough Theatre in Earls Court, London; Jones later co- produced Cracked Eggs as a short film featuring Jared Harris (Lane Pryce in AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ and King George VI in ‘The Crown’), which screened at the Austin, Boston Underground, LA Shorts, and London Independent film festivals. Steve’s subsequent plays ‘Baloopa’s Journey’ and ‘Hero & Zero’ were awarded Arts Council grants in England, Austria, and Lithuania. Steve is currently working on a novel.
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