Legally Speaking: Contemporary American Culture and the Law

Rating:
Summary: A persuasive case
Review: In this book, Ms Porsdam attempts a difficult task: writing about aspects of the law in united states culture without being tiresome, overly technical, or shallow. She discusses the role (and rule) of law in the following areas: united states exceptionalism, literary works (Tom Wolfe, William Gaddis, Scott Turow, Margaret Atwood, Sara Paretsky), television drama and televised courtroom proceedings, and race and feminist issues.

For the most part the writing is calm and even-handed, and the examples Porsdam chooses back up her argument that for united statesians the law is a secular religion, protecting every citizen. At the same time that it is a shield, it is also a sword, and this dual purpose, and the friction generated, is at the core of each chapter of this very readable book. Advocates for keeping the law as it is, and those who want to change it, are depicted as being aware of what it is, and wanting it to be something else (something they hope is better). These debates are far from dry matters - scholars talking to scholars - and the repercussions of both change and inertia are tangible and considerable.

In many instances Porsdam has to encapsulate conflicting arguments (e.g., on the merits and weaknesses of usian feminism and french feminism) while also carrying her own point forward, which can be a tricky thing to do. Most times she succeeds, and manages to make a clear enough path through dense thickets of other people's prose for the reader to see her argument, as well as those of her sources.

The book does suffer somewhat in the arguments surrounding the People's Court, and with television's legal dramas. Since television has brought highly sensational trials into the homes of so many, more recent events and programs could have been examined, to better understand the ways legal issues have entered the life of many united statesians.

That is a weakness in an otherwise clear and concise work, a relatively short work which manages to make legal issues more immediate than one would think possible. This is not a book written in the obfuscatory prose some scholars and academics prefer; it is written for anyone interested in legal issues, and looking for a broad picture showing how people's view of the law is reflected in the cultural works being created in the u.s. today.

Rating:
Summary: A persuasive case
Review: In this book, Ms Porsdam attempts a difficult task: writing about aspects of the law in united states culture without being tiresome, overly technical, or shallow. She discusses the role (and rule) of law in the following areas: united states exceptionalism, literary works (Tom Wolfe, William Gaddis, Scott Turow, Margaret Atwood, Sara Paretsky), television drama and televised courtroom proceedings, and race and feminist issues.

For the most part the writing is calm and even-handed, and the examples Porsdam chooses back up her argument that for united statesians the law is a secular religion, protecting every citizen. At the same time that it is a shield, it is also a sword, and this dual purpose, and the friction generated, is at the core of each chapter of this very readable book. Advocates for keeping the law as it is, and those who want to change it, are depicted as being aware of what it is, and wanting it to be something else (something they hope is better). These debates are far from dry matters - scholars talking to scholars - and the repercussions of both change and inertia are tangible and considerable.

In many instances Porsdam has to encapsulate conflicting arguments (e.g., on the merits and weaknesses of usian feminism and french feminism) while also carrying her own point forward, which can be a tricky thing to do. Most times she succeeds, and manages to make a clear enough path through dense thickets of other people's prose for the reader to see her argument, as well as those of her sources.

The book does suffer somewhat in the arguments surrounding the People's Court, and with television's legal dramas. Since television has brought highly sensational trials into the homes of so many, more recent events and programs could have been examined, to better understand the ways legal issues have entered the life of many united statesians.

That is a weakness in an otherwise clear and concise work, a relatively short work which manages to make legal issues more immediate than one would think possible. This is not a book written in the obfuscatory prose some scholars and academics prefer; it is written for anyone interested in legal issues, and looking for a broad picture showing how people's view of the law is reflected in the cultural works being created in the u.s. today.