The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America
by Jeffrey Rosen, Thirteen/WNET
List Price:
Our Price: $11.37
You Save: $13.63 (55%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.08 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jeffrey Rosen, Thirteen/WNETEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-01-09
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Times Books
Book Reviews of The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America
Book Review: Adequate, but nothing more.
Summary: 3 Stars
I found this account of the Supreme Court far less engaging than "The Nine". Rosen's main point - that judicial temperament determines success on the court, in the sense that justices who work well with others have more influence - hardly qualifies as an earth-shattering insight. But it causes him to adopt an awkward structure for the book, sorting through history to pick pairs of judges, who are then analyzed in a series of artificial head-to-head comparison. The result seems forced, and not particularly illuminating.
Rosen may have thought it a coup when he scored the in-depth interview with the new Chief Justice Roberts that rounds out the book. But it's basically a string of banalities, wherein Rosen seems like nothing more than a mouthpiece for Roberts's insubstantial, Pollyanna-ish platitudes. The effect is to undermine any credibility Rosen might have built up in the preceding chapters.
But how much respect does this kind of writing really deserve, anyway?
"If the pairings of judicial temperaments in this book suggest anything, it is that courting attention and partisan approval in the short term is no guarantee of judicial respect in the long term. In each of the pairings, there have been consistent tropes. The brilliant academic is less appealing over time than the collegial pragmatist. The self-centered loner is less effective than the convivial team player. The resentful braggarts wear less well than the secure justices who know who they are. The narcissist wields judicial power less sure-handedly than the judge who shows personal as well as judicial humility. The loose cannons shoot themselves in the foot, while those who know when to hold their tongues appear more judicious. (On the court, a justice often achieves more by saying less.) The ideological purists are marginalized, while those who understand when not to take each principle to its logical extreme are vindicated by history. Those who view cases in purely philosophical terms are less sure-footed than those who are aware of the cases' practical effects. Those with the common touch win broader support than those who live entirely in abstractions".
An author who indulges in eight consecutive repetitions of the same point (i) needs a better editor and (ii) must not have a very high opinion of his readers. This book was not terrible, but it wasn't very good either.
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Books and e-Books
The Love Dareby Stephen Kendrick, Alex Kendrick
B&H Books; Published: 2008-09-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.06
Price in other shops:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)by David Wroblewski
Ecco; Published: 2008-09-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops:
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Lifeby Alice Schroeder
Bantam; Published: 2008-09-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.25
Price in other shops:
Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)by Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2008-08-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.19
Price in other shops:
Eclipse Special Edition (The Twilight Saga)by Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2008-05-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
New Moonby Stephanie Meyer
Atom/Little, Brown Book Group; Published: 2008; Paperback; Book
New Moon (Twilight Saga)by Stephenie Meyer
Large Print Distribution; Published: 2009-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.85
Price in other shops:
Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3)by Christopher Paolini
Knopf Books for Young Readers; Published: 2008-09-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.95
Price in other shops:
Twilight (The Twilight Saga)by Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.59
Price in other shops:
The Shackby William P. Young
Windblown Media; Published: 2008-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judgesby Antonin Scalia, Bryan A. Garner
Thomson West; Published: 2008-04-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.63
Price in other shops:
Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989by Michael R. Beschloss
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-05-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
The Supreme Courtby William H. Rehnquist
Vintage; Published: 2002-02-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.85
Price in other shops:
Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomasby Kevin Merida, Michael Fletcher
Doubleday; Published: 2007-04-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.24
Price in other shops:
Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Madeby Jim Newton
Riverhead Hardcover; Published: 2006-10-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.58
Price in other shops:
Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powersby James F. Simon
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2006-11-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Supreme CourtRelease date: 2007-01-23; DVD
Best price: $52.42
Price in other shops:
The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Courtby Bob Woodward, Scott Armstrong
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.13
Price in other shops:
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Courtby Jeffrey Toobin
Anchor; Published: 2008-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.79
Price in other shops:
Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Courtby Jan Crawford Greenburg
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2008-01-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: