Customer Reviews

All the Trouble You Need : A Novel

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tervalon has done it again! He's tackled the big issues of sexuality, self, and race in a character driven narrative that leaves the reader satisfied and thoroughly entertained. Tervalon's ability to deal with heady issues in an engaging and thought provoking way singles him out as not only a gifted storyteller, but as one with a literary depth masked in a very readable Hemingway-esque style. His books just keep getting better! This book is the best yet!

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

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.

I tend towards history, maybe some bios, because novels tend to be over-the-top sensational, or one-dimensional, too predictable, or just all drama without much of a plot. This book is none of those; it's an enjoyable read.

The book threads many issues into the mix: racial identity; fitting in; climbing the corporate ladder; correctness in dating; economic class; doing what's expected vs. what you want - all this and more. Yet Jervey does it in a way to make you THINK about it, and within the construct of a fun, believable plot. The book isnt ABOUT any ONE of these things. I like that you can breeze through this book at the beach and have a nice little read, or you could read it with some friend, have a book club, discuss certain characters or scenes, and use vignettes to discuss many issues relevant to today.

Read about college instructor Jordan and his relationships with three women - Mary, Trisha, and Daphne. The story focuses mainly on the Jordan/Trisha/Daphne triangle, with Daphne giving Jordan all the trouble he needs. A pretty good find. It's short, so you can finish it rather quickly.

I had a bit of difficulty in writing a review on this book.First of all,I don't read much fiction,but when I do,I read it to learn something about the people,times and area where the story takes place.A story that is just a story ,doesn't get me too excited.However,I have been to Santa Barbara,and thoroughly enjoyed T.C.Boyle's "Riven Rock".It was particularly interesting to me because I visited with the people who now make what used to be the theatre on the estate,their home.It is a terrific book and tells the very interesting story of the McCormick family.I do read some southern fiction,mainly for the use of language and depiction of 'life' as well as the characters.So,this book caught my attention.
I guess if you're one who likes pure fiction,TV Sitcoms,soap operas,Harlequin-type romances with bit of mystery thrown in,
etc., and there's certainly nothing wrong with that,you should enjoy it.
Like I said,that's not my cup of tea;but I did enjoy the authors writing style and wonderful phrases and descriptions.
A couple that come to mind are;
"So blond he looked bleached of color,dressed like a shaman,leading a workshop of loser New Agers,burning incense,chanting endlessly and purifying themselves by night swims in the frigid ocean water.."
Then describing patients in a mental hospital;
"the dozen or so glassy-eyed zombies watching television with rapt attention."
"If she were as pretty as she had heard,men had a way of ignoring a little coffee in the cream."
and
"a single black bean on bed of white rice."
To me ,I feel the author has the skills to write a great historical novel or a true story,and has more in him than a book like this.Let's hope he does.

This is the story of a black college teacher, living in a pretty much all white city, Santa Barbara who is just trying to make it, he is also dating one of his students, who is a big mystery to him. What i liked most about reading this book was, Trisha. It is so rare to read a mainstream black novel with a main character that is determined to stay a virgin until marriage. Trisha dated Jordan, off and on- the main character in this book. Everyone should give this book a chance.