{"id":715,"date":"2012-05-29T12:01:29","date_gmt":"2012-05-29T17:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/?p=715"},"modified":"2012-05-31T08:34:59","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T13:34:59","slug":"summer-reading-in-the-law-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/2012\/05\/29\/summer-reading-in-the-law-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer reading in the law library"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking for some lighter reading this summer?\u00a0 The Law Library\u2019s Popular Reading collection<\/a> is available on reserve at the Circulation Desk.\u00a0 In addition, the library stacks hold a variety of novels and short stories for those interested in lawyers, courtrooms, and the law.\u00a0 Here are a few for you to consider:\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want something in the vein of Grisham and Turow, consider Milton Hirsch\u2019s The Shadow of Justice<\/a>. Hirsch, a former prosecutor and current defense attorney, tells the story of a trial for cocaine possession in a Miami courthouse.\u00a0 The book was the ABA\u2019s first venture into the field of mystery publishing. \u00a0\u00a0Another courtroom drama is played out in Alan Dershowitz\u2019s first venture into fiction, The Advocate\u2019s Devil<\/a>.\u00a0 Fast-paced and entertaining, this celebrity trial novel follows a defense lawyer\u2019s efforts to acquit a famous and charismatic basketball player on rape charges in the face of his increasing suspicion the basketball star is guilty.<\/p>\n

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Kermit Roosevelt\u2019s In the Shadow of the Law<\/a> turns from the courtroom to law firm life.\u00a0 Roosevelt (who left the practice of law to become a law professor) is set in Washington, D.C. biglaw.\u00a0 While its plot tracks the resolution of two cases \u2013 a murder and a chemical plant explosion \u2013 the novel also delves into the inner lives of the firm\u2019s partners and associates.<\/p>\n

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The short story collection When Tutt Meets Tutt<\/a> features Ephraim Tutt, a long-running Saturday Evening Post character invented by Arthur Train.\u00a0 The title story of this 1927 collection tells the humorous story of a will contest fought by attorneys whose partnership has temporarily broken up.<\/p>\n

If you prefer British courtrooms, step back a few decades into the world of Henry Cecil, one of the most amusing novelists about the British legal system.\u00a0 Typical of Cecil\u2019s style is the Roger Thursby trilogy.\u00a0 In Brothers in Law<\/a>, Thursby, a newly qualified young barrister, makes his debut in the Old Bailey defending a con artist.\u00a0 Thursby, now a 12-year veteran of the bar, defends a case of police bribery in Friends at Court<\/a>.\u00a0 Finally, ten or so years later, Sober as a Judge<\/a> advances Thursby to the rank of high court judge.\u00a0 Also set in British courtrooms, but in the murder mystery genre, is Tragedy at Law<\/a> by Cyril Hare, in which Mr. Justice Barber \u2013 a very nasty judge indeed — travels the c<\/em>ircuit in World War II England on his way to being murdered.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trial and Error: An Oxford Anthology of Legal Stories<\/a> includes excerpts from novels such Harper Lee\u2019s To <\/em>Kill a<\/em><\/em><\/em> Mockingbird<\/em> and Anthony Trollope\u2019s Lady Anna<\/em>.\u00a0 Also included are short stories, for example Philip Roth\u2019s \u201cE<\/em>li, t<\/em>he<\/em> <\/em>Fanatic.\u201d\u00a0 Still more legal stories are found in Best Legal Stories<\/a> and Best Legal Stories 2<\/a>, both edited by John Welcome.<\/p>\n

Finally, if you\u2019re interested in pursuing more courtroom fiction, Jon L. Breen\u2019s bibliography Novel Verdicts: A Guide to Courtroom Fiction <\/a>provides descriptions of over 400 novels and short story collections published before 1984.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking for some lighter reading this summer?\u00a0 The Law Library\u2019s Popular Reading collection is available on reserve at the Circulation Desk.\u00a0 In addition, the library stacks hold a variety of novels and short stories for those interested in lawyers, courtrooms, and the law.\u00a0 Here are a few for you to consider:\u00a0 If you want something […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4537],"tags":[338,310],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":735,"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions\/735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.law.cornell.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}