bookshelf

TRIAL AND ERROR

Name: TRIAL AND ERROR
Author: John C. Tucker
ISBN: 0-7867-1113-2

THE EDUCATION OF A COURTROOM LAWYER

by John C. Tucker ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2003

An eminently instructive guide for law students, and for general readers an authentic version of a world they normally see...

bookshelf

In his impeccably detailed memoir, trial lawyer Tucker (May God Have Mercy, 1997) takes readers through some of the most celebrated and notorious courtroom dramas of the 20th century.

You expect an attorney to emphasize specifics: when discussing his defense of a paranoid schizophrenic in the mid-1960s, for example, Tucker describes the moment he received the call from the defendant’s father, how he arranged to meet the man, why the courts of that time failed to provide justice for the mentally ill. What’s surprising is how breezy and engrossing the narrative is. Readers will want the details to unfold because, like members of a jury, they know an argument or lesson is going to reveal itself at some point. Usually the author’s lessons reaffirm the sanctity of the judicial system. Even though many of the cases here involve justice breaking down, unfair judges, rigid bureaucracies, and politics muddling up the courtroom, ultimately each example Tucker provides ends with the triumph of truth over falsehood. His chapter on the trial of the Chicago Eight is a case in point. Tucker writes that US Judge Julius Hoffman performed horribly in the case, which involved the so-called conspirators who organized a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968. The judge was biased throughout the proceedings, going so far as to jail some of the defendants’ lawyers and later sentencing almost everyone who was part of the case to a few years in prison for contempt of court. In the end, Hoffman’s draconian actions were overturned, and Tucker argues that the circus arising from the trial sent a message to other judges that they couldn’t quash people’s First Amendment rights so easily. He wonders if a popular movement will protect due-process rights in the war against terrorism.

An eminently instructive guide for law students, and for general readers an authentic version of a world they normally see only through the meretricious lens of TV courtroom dramas.

Pub Date: March 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-7867-1113-2

Page Count: 368

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.