Understand This

by Jervey Tervalon, Richard Yarborough (Foreword by)

Overview

Jervey Tervalon's novel about young people in South Central Los Angeles grows out of his experience teaching in a high school there and his pain at the death of one of his favorite students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520223554
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	10/26/2000
Series:	California Fiction
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jervey Tervalon teaches English at California State University, Los Angeles. His most recent novel is Dead Above Ground (2000).

Editorial Reviews

Tervalon's graphic, vividly realized debut about two high school students in South Central Los Angeles was awarded QPB's New Voices Award for 1994. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The publisher is really excited about this first novel, written by a man who grew up in South Central Los Angeles and returned there to teach after completing an MFA at the University of California, Irvine. Tervalon brings together numerous characters, including the lovestruck Francois and Margot; Michaels, a burnt-out teacher; and drug addict Rika. Yet the main character is perhaps Los Angeles itself--that is, the downbeat Los Angeles of guns, gangs, and death.

Library Journal