Life After Johnnie Cochran: Why I Left the Sweetest-Talking, Most Successful Black Lawyer in L.A.

Rating:
Summary: I'd read this one again
Review: I didn't expect much, coming from a non-public personality writing a "my life with..." tome. I was very pleasantly surprised. Barbara Cochran Berry is a likeable and intelligent storyteller. She shows herself to be way above the league of that (in my opinion) smooth-talking sociopath she married. She gives it to him straight between the eyes, but in a restrained manner, which only adds to her aura of dignity and veracity.

This is a solid, well-written book about a woman who has gone through emotional hell and come through it stronger. I would recommend it particulary to women who are themselves experiencing the pain of marital betrayal. Best of luck to her.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy
Review: This book is not even worth reading. Although I do believe most of Barbara's tales about Johnnie's philandering, I don't buy her mostly negative and one-sided story. Her story about chronic domestic abuse is not very convincing because she only cites about one or two alleged incidents where this might have occurred. If anything Johnnie was fighting this woman to stay out of his life and recognize when a relationship has ended. At one point in the book she even mentioned her own daughter wanted her to get back with him. Why the heck would her own daughter want her to go back with him if he is such a monster? It is obvious to me that she was just using him for his money and would not divorce because she had more to lose and was upset that he was with a "white" woman. In fact, the real reason why she left him is because Johnnie decided to take a cut in pay when he left his private law practice to work in the #3 position in the LA District Attorney Office. She was afraid that she would not be able to maintain her extravagant spending. This book was a real disappointment. Barbara makes a high and mighty claim about educating physically abused woman when in reality she is just trying to make a quick dollar by fabricating a bunch of stories and trying to dig up dirt where none existed. If you want a more accurate spin on the truth about their relationship, read Johnnie's book entitled " A Lawyers Life".