What's Going On

Former Washington Post reporter Nathan McCall won critical acclaim for his autobiographical Makes Me Wanna Holler, the story of his troubled youth, his criminal career as a young man, his three-year prison sentence for armed robbery, and his struggles to put his life together after his release. In this collection of essays, McCall addresses social issues and problems, filtering his comments through the lens of his own experience. Thus his commentary in "Gangstas, Guns, and Shoot 'Em Ups," recalls his youthful infatuation with The Godfather, and criticizes the dead-end fantasies of gangster rap. In "Men: We Just Don't Get It," he recalls the times he sexually assaulted women and looks at his own daughter with love and fear. He hopes she'll find someone who loves her, but is afraid she'll meet men who don't treat women with love and respect.