This novel does what the writer Tom Wolfe says a novel should do: it goes deeply into a world that most of us don't know and brings back a lively and intelligent report that is well rendered and ultimately unforgettable. The story is tragic and hopeful and insightful and sad all at once. Good book.

This book was really good, I liked the humor that was in the book

Tervalon can write. There's not a sentence that doesn't fit. Every word is in exactly the right place and contributes to the whole, and yet the writing is so restrained and understated that you have no sense of the author's presence, but only of his many, extraordinarily vivid characters. The plot is the least interesting part of the book, but still it hooks you. The book, like life, has its melodramatic moments, but also moments of humor and lots of sympathetic insight into a host of interesting people trying, with varying degrees of success, to make the best of their lives. The abiding feeling left by the book is not the cliched angst of urban hopelessless, etc. etc., but something far more positive and difficult to describe, because the world of this book is far too complex and finely-drawn to be summarized in any string of adjectives. A terrific book.

In Dead Above Ground, Jervey Tervalon introduced us to Lita Du Champ, and his latest novel, LITA, is a continuance of her story. After Lita and her husband Winston move from New Orleans with their two children and her twin sisters Ava and Ana, they reside in Los Angeles. Ava and Ana are a handful at seventeen, especially Ava. She has blossomed into a young woman, complete with the Coke bottle shape and know-it-all attitude. Lita tries to be patient with her and the rest of the family, but she finds herself becoming more and more like her deceased mother everyday, and less and less satisfied with her circumstances. She isn't infinitely happy with her situation in Los Angeles, but the alternative - going back to Louisiana, her abusive father, and the house where her mother burned to death - seems much less attractive to her.

LITA is a novel of supernatural and natural powers, revealing both ghosts of the past and forces of nature in the present. It's a book that holds on to you from the first page, and there certainly are no lulls. Like the other Tervalon novels I have read, I enjoyed the story immensely and implore him to continue the Du Champ legacy.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I don't usually read 'relationship' books. I generally find them to be cliche'-ridden and draining. I almost put the book down but decided to stick it out because I was curious to meet Daphne, the girl with the 'shadowy secrets.' The minute Daphne entered the scene I was hooked. I'm talking cooking-with-one-hand-and-reading-with-the-other kind of hooked. It was the battle of...the playa versus the gentleman. It was thrilling being inside the mind of a man and I often found myself saying loudly to my husband, "So THAT'S how it happens!"
Kudos to Tervalon for a job well done.

Jordan Davis, a young African American male of twenty eight, is content with his life, living in Santa Barbara, California and teaching a course or two a semester while working on his doctoral thesis in literature. Life is good or at least most of the time. That is when his best friend and roommate Ned is not needling him about the scarcity of blacks living in Santa Barbara, or when he isn't so sexually obsessed with "that white girl" Mary, or when he is not wrestling with his confusion of the kind of relationship he wants from Trisha, a young well-to-do black senior at the university.

Having escaped his inner-city Los Angeles neighborhood, Jordan is comfortable with his life in a city that offers him serenity even if the black population is only one percent. He can live with that. Trisha comes from a family of privileged black folk, a family that is committed to civil rights in Santa Barbara and has high expectations of their children. She belongs to AKA sorority, is beautiful and intelligent, on her way to law school and a virgin at twenty-two years old. His friends tell him she is what he needs, she is the one to settle down with and Jordan knows there is no half-stepping with Trisha; she is the marrying kind. He has strong feelings for her; with Mary it is just a sex thing, but then the most tempting, exotic, beautiful woman walks into his Japanese Lit class and rocks his world. Daphne, of undetermined race, her heritage hardly anyone is able to determine, has a troubled past. Having traveled over the world, she is back living with her rich parents and is smitten with Jordan, as he is with her. But she has brought back a lifetime of baggage and all the drama that accompanies it.

Ned announces he is moving to D.C. He cannot bring himself to date white women; the black women in Santa Barbara, the AKAs and the Deltas reject him, (he is an artist type) leaving Jordan further isolated and trying to deal with his issues. There are secondary characters and story lines involving Trisha's family's racial incidents, which reflect black life in a town where blacks people are scarce. There is also a scene that further exposes the city's disquieting relationship with African Americans when two members of the famed Harlem Globetrotters, in town for a university benefit, are mistaken for bank robbers and held at gun-point by police. At his book signing appearance in Oakland, Tervalon revealed he went to undergraduate school at U. C. Santa Barbara and met his wife there, who is from a prominent African American family, so he knows of what he writes. He is also from inner-city Los Angeles. I detect a little truth telling here, which is all good.

Tervalon manages to weave a multi-layered tale of many dimensions. Issues of race, identity, class, love and passion, and one's place in the world are explored in depth. As is his trademark, there is a hint of mystery, and a Faulkneresque aura in the irony and tragedy of the story. I would highly recommend this book as one that will give you insight to another aspect of living one's dreams. My actual rating for this book is a 4.5.

Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub

In ALL THE TROUBLE YOU NEED, we meet Jordan, a leisurely professor in Santa Barbara who seldom knows what it is he wants or needs from life, and in particular, from women. He's sown his share of wild oats, but it isn't until he meets Trisha and Daphne that his world is truly shaken by his indecision. After all, the women he "played around with" were never taken seriously, but these two ladies, Trisha, the virgin and "the marrying type" and Daphne, the mysterious vixen and one of his students, are a force to be reckoned with in their own rights. The women seem to stand on different ends of the spectrum of womanhood, and Jordan is caught in the middle.

Tervalon once again strays from the norm with this book. The plot is strong, and the characters are even stronger. And while the concept is not all that outlandish, he pulls it off, adding a psychological twist to the story of a man caught between two women, two worlds, and with a monumental decision to make.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

More, more, more. This book brought back many memories for me.
Thank you.

Griots beneath the baobab offers lessons about humanity or the lack of it with a collective embrace.

Skillful writing reveals characters held in the moment, and each scenario hits the mark exposing love, turmoil and forgiveness. These tales are consuming and energizing.

I guess i had a misconception that this book was about the class system of New Orleans blacks. I soon found out differently.This story revolves around Lita, the daugher of Mama and Papa DuChamp. She is running things and taking care of everyone and she is getting married. Around this time, her mother is disowning her older sister Adele because of the man (Lucien) she chooses to be with. Mama DuChamp has to explain to Lita why she is so against this relationship. She tells Lita a story about Adele that explains her actions and reactions. It also explains the actions of Lucien. Now, If I explain I would give it all away, so you will have to read the book. There are other interesting characters such as Aunt Dot and Ruby. While I did not see this book as being an exciting mystery ride, it was intriguing in some places.

This book had all of the right elements, tragedy, lust, anger, everything that one needs for a thrilling piece of fiction.

Lita DuChamp is a woman who basically lives in the shadow of her sister Adele, who is a spolied, selfish character who you really cannot like no matter how you try to see her situation. Their mother, Helen, let's their father abuse her to no end, and adores Adele, fearing Adele's choice of a lover, Lucien. Lucien is straight up "no good for nobody" as the old folk's say.

There are more problems and situations in this book, told from Lita's point of view. I recommend this book for an easy afternoon read.

This book was awesome. It was set during the 1940's in New Orleans and took me back to that place and time barring the fact that I was born in the 1970's in Brooklyn, New York and have only visited New Orleans once.

I did not want to put this novel down because it stimulated me to continue reading all throughout. It was enthralling, evoking and well put together. I highly recommend that if you are a true avid reader you will appreciate all that this great novel has to offer.

Lita Du Champ was a strong young woman who fiercely believed in the ties that bind a family together. Her mother Helen made mistakes in the past and tried to protect her family from an ill fate while her oldest daughter Adele was a free spirit and lived for the moment. The men lacked compassion and were thoughtless to a great extent, but to be expected in those days and sadly still very reflective in today's society. Overall it was a splendid read.

Dead Above Ground is definitely a keeper and a must read. This novel deserves a resurgence. I don't think that it received all the praise that it should have in the past!!!

This book basically sits on the shoulders of a few select characters in a particular South Central, LA neighborhood. It is presumably semi (if not completely) autobiographical. The central character Garvy draws sympathy and strength. You feel for him as he is bounced back and forth emotionaly and physically in the trying neighborhood. It's not all gangs and guns like one would think, especially if you have never been to South Central. Moreover, we find a few characters seemingly trapped, physically but travel the world mentally. It's a good easy read. A long plane car/plane/train ride would go well with this book.

These 23 stories with reoccurring characters are essential reading for anyone interested in the cultural history of Los Angeles. In the words of the author: "What I hope I've done with living for the city is conjure up the black Los Angeles I grew up in during the seventies without all the gangster hype but showing that world as bittersweet as it was. Many of these stories were written when I was a teenager living that life." This is reflected in the highly autobiographical tone many of the stories assume, as well as the straightforward style. Although there is a lot of desperation in the characters, and depictions of being trapped (mentally and physically), Tervalon shows the reader unexpected characters and their desires. If you like this, find a copy of Edward Jones' collection of stories about Washington, DC, Lost in the City, which is sadly out-of-print.