by Jervey Tervalon (Author), Richard Yarborough (Foreword by)

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.

Front Jacket

Gritty and gripping, Understand This marks the debut of a powerful new voice in American fiction.--Henry Louis Gates Jr., author of The Signifying Monkey

Lean, wire-tight, and dazzlingly structured, Tervalon's Understand This is a book for our times.--José Saldívar, author of Border Matters

Back Jacket

Gritty and gripping, Understand This marks the debut of a powerful new voice in American fiction.--Henry Louis Gates Jr., author of The Signifying Monkey

"Lean, wire-tight, and dazzlingly structured, Tervalon's Understand This is a book for our times."--José Saldívar, author of Border Matters

Author Biography

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