Law Books

The ending of this book was very surprising btu the book overall was a satisfying read. I'd recommend it for middle schoolers.

However, this book was fantastic. Seriously, run out and buy it. NOW.

I love unexpected endings. With Cormier, I've come to expect the unexpected. Nothing prepared me for this!

Usually in my reviews, I post a short description, in my own words. I won't this time, as I don't want ot give ANYTHING away. ;)

I read this wonderful book when I was in Grad School for an Adoloscent Literature Class. I read it in one sitting. Not a big deal, but I just didn't think I would get into it. As another reviewer said, it took me by surprise.

This eerie and gripping story is, at first, puzzling but it takes you over. Adam's journeys are almost surreal, until you find out why. (Which I won't give away.) However, I do remember a fairly heated debate in class that this book was too dark for young readers. I disagreed, but I saw their point. Would I recommend it to a 14-year-old? Tough call. But I think I would. But, if you are an adult, I would definitely recommend it.

By Alex Relph, Chad Kerley, Maddie Taylor, Isaac Gomez, and Sky Nichols

I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier, is an excellent book for both male and female teenagers. A boy's struggle to find the truth about his life, takes him back to a place in the past that perhaps he shouldn't remember. It all starts when he takes a fall on his bike and it all comes back to him. As it may have been confusing at times to switch back from reality to him having discussions with his therapist, it becomes a nice refreshment from a normal story. You go along with the character to uncover his real identity. The book leaves you asking questions which we personally did not like, but does fall in the category of a mystery thriller. It is a good story and his suitable for adrenaline junkies. So read it for yourself!!

I recently read this book for the second time, and I liked it even more than when I was a kid. It's about a boy who takes a bicycle road trip to see his dad in nearby Vermont. The story shifts back and forth between the bicycle journey and his journey with a counselor to discover the truth about his past. Both journeys come to crashing climaxes. There are some loose threads that you will wonder about for days (like whatever happened to Amy Hertz? Was there ever really an Amy Hertz? Why is she important to the story? What does she represent?) This is excellent, young adult fiction. It's like the Sixth Sense in that it is one of those stories that sticks close to you long after you've finished the book.

First, the book is terrific and it has been exceptionally well reviewed. The reviews focus on the legitimate and obvious reasons for which the book is great. Specifically, it is well written, riveting, thought provoking, and wildly entertaining--regardless of your predetermined views of the justice system. I agree with all of those reviews and will not repeat them here.

For me, the book has made a lasting impression and it is on my required reading list for all lawyers or aspiring lawyers because it forces the reading lawyer to ask the fundamental question of "what type of lawyer do I want to be?" Most lawyers and law students confuse this question with "how much money/prestige can I accumulate over a legal career?" The book helps the reader answer this question in a profound way. For that reason alone, it is worth reading. For all the other reasons and reviews it is MUST reading.

Keith J. Bruno

I'm an incoming law student this fall and I bought this book because I'm considering working as a public defender after law school. The book itself didn't disappoint. It was written well and really made me feel what it might be like to endure the daily struggle of too many desperate clients and not enough time to adequately represent them. I was very shocked at how much time the criminal judicial system wastes through a variety of substandard mechanisms... Mr. Feige did a remarkable job of explaining it all.

However, after finishing the book... I can't help but feel a little sad. As an ex elementary school teacher, I almost feel as if taking a job as PD would be similar (a job that is very demanding and rough for very little pay). The work of a public defender seems so noble and so important, yet after reading Feige's book... I have to say that I'm actually not inspired to do the work. I'm instead inspired to seek out to practice law in a different setting.

I think I'll certainly use one of my law school summers to intern for a PD office, as I know that I can't possibly understand what the job is like until getting as close to working it as is possible.

But man, is the system messed up. It's frightening. Thanks, Mr. Feige, for giving me a little insight into the world of big city indigent defense.

I recommend this book for anyone thinking of pursuing similar work in the legal profession or for anyone wishing to know just how much time, money, effort, and agony is wasted daily in the process which is our criminal court system.

If you're teaching a class in law, this is an excellent introduction to the legal system...I had to discipline myself from reading it too fast...

I pre-ordered this book right before I took the bar exam, but didn't get around to reading it until I visited my parents' house almost a year later. In the meantime I'd passed the bar, been sworn in as a lawyer, and spent nine months as an ADA in the Big City (not the same Big City where Feige practiced, but not much changes in the grimy world of high-volume, high-stress courthouses). I found this book when I came back home for vacation, and just finished reading it last week.

I'm glad I accidentally waited so long before reading it. I think a book like this looks different from the inside than the outside. It has different benefits: rather than giving you a glimpse inside a new world, it makes you look at familiar surroundings from a new perspective. In a career where every professional relationship is adversarial and the other side is often met with suspicion (and often with good reason), it's invaluable to get an honest view of what the other side is thinking. Feige's book is an excellent reminder of the fact that we're still all human in a sometimes inhumane system, and of how it is possible for good and worthy people to stand on both sides of the courtroom. I realize that sounds incredibly basic, but it's so easy to forget in the battlefield. The book provides some reassurance that I'm not failing in my job when I cut defendants breaks, or withdraw charges when justice doesn't line up with the letter of the law. And it reminds me to be decent to the defenders who are decent in turn, because the good ones are horribly overworked and underappreciated in what they do. I'm grateful to be reminded of those things. I needed it.

Of course the book has its flaws; all books do. Nothing is said about extremely pro-defense judges who are as unfeeling toward victims and their families as Feige's pro-prosecution judges are toward defendants. Nothing is said about good cops, or humane court staff, and almost nothing about inept or indifferent public defenders, or the crimes of which their clients are guilty (as, indeed, most are). But the book isn't intended as an even-handed, clear-eyed evaluation of the system; it's a heartfelt and impassioned piece of advocacy for one particular point of view.

So, again, I'm grateful to Feige for writing this book. It's well worth reading. Rarely does this particular corner of the legal profession have such a skilled and passionate advocate.

I am not fond of criminals. Nor can my politics be considered left-wing. However, I do believe in the Constitutional right to due process and David Feige's "Indefensible" shows how Americans are routinely denied this right without a whimper from the elitist liberals and their mainstream press pals. Steve Bogira tried showing the nature of the criminal justice system in his "Courtroom 302" (Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse, but that came out sounding like a left-wing whine blaming everyone except the lawbreaker.

Feige was a public defender in New York for more than 15 years. He tells the story of those years with a touch of humor, an understated admission of the psychic pain he suffered as the system ground down defendants, their families and their lawyers, while elevating and protecting incompetent (if not corrupt) judges, prosecutors and police. His story has the ring of truth. He talks about innocent people railroaded into pleading guilty just to escape the system. Of evil judges who gave no second thought to wrecking families and lives. (He names names.) He doesn't resort to the usual left-wing nostrums of blaming society, demanding more money to perpeptuate dependent welfare or any of that.

By simply stating the facts from his perspective, Feige makes a strong argument for thorough reform of the criminal justice system. Right now the system isn't concerned with justice, but simply keeping itself going. As I said, I have no sympathy for actual criminals and it irritated me a bit to read of Feige negotiating down sentences of robbers and murderers. My attitude toward them is more like lock them up and throw away the key. But Feige reminds us that every criminal defendant has unalienable Constitutional rights - and that these rights are being violated day in and day out in New York's criminal courts. (Bogira attempted to make the same point about Chicago.) More than likely the same can be said for any criminal court system in America. The system is dysfunctional and doesn't work. So plea bargains are the currency of the day. Society suffers because bad people come back to the streets to soon. But innocent people suffer too, denied a trial, forced into pleas that may harm them or even ruin their lives.

It's a lousy system, far from the promises of the Constitution, and one that must be reformed on every level. Feige makes his points without beating the reader's head against the wall and he makes them effectively. He doesn't make any left-wing, criminal-coddling arguments: he doesen't have to. His experiences as a public defender, representing the truly guilty, the innocent and just those whom life dealt a bad hand to are all that's needed to waken your conscience to the miscarriage of justice we call our criminal justice system.

Jerry

This is an outstanding book on higher education law. Lots of case examples and descriptions. A little repetative at some points, but I suppose that is true about law in general. Not even as dry as one might think about a 2 volume law book set.

Kaplin & Lee's "The Law of Higher Education (Third Edition)" was the required text for a graduate course, "Legal Aspects of Higher Education" and should be present on the bookshelf of any university administrator. The book's subtitle, "A Comprehensive Guide to Legal Implications of Administrative Decision Making," is wholly accurate in describing the scope and utility of this massive tome (over 1,000 pages from cover to cover).

The book is a valuable investment on a number of fronts, not the least of which is the paucity of comparable texts on this complex topic. "The Law of Higher Education" begins with an overview of postsecondary education law and continues with an interesting organization that considers the college and its various constituencies -- "The College and Trustees, Administrators, and Staff," "The College and the Faculty," "The College and the Students," "The College and the Community," "The College and the State Government," "The College and the Federal Government," "The College and the Educational Associations," and "The College and the Business/Industrial Community." Each chapter is further broken down into key arenas (for example, in the chapter on students, a few of the topics include admissions, financial aid, disciplinary rules and regulations, and athletics). Each topic includes a context and is connected to numerous examples from case law. Despite the high degree of legal terminology, the book is readable for the layperson. There are separate indices for subject, statute, and cases that make it easy to locate relevant information.

This book is an excellent treatment of the enormously complex field of high education law.

The authors made the legal issues easy to understand. I was out there looking for a such book for a long long time, and this is the book. This book helpes me to be prepared for some potential legal matters that I may have to face in a complicated casino hotel environment. I had a great opportunity to meet with the author Stephen Barth at the New York Hotel Show one year. He was a keynote speaker.

Great industry resource for lodging and hospitality managers. This book is far more practical than others Ive used or reviewed. Mr. Barth makes the book usuable for students, yet extremely practical for those already in working in the field. We now promote and encourage the use of this book with all those we work with.

As President & CEO of the Texas Hotel and Motel Association, I have known Stephen Barth as a revered professor of hospitality law at the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, as a tremendously popular seminar leader, and now, I am pleased to say, as an outstanding author.

His book, Hospitality Law, provides an up-to-date information source that can teach practicing hospitality managers and students how to avoid and minimize legal difficulties they might otherwise face in the running of lodging properties. The book is well written, easy to follow, and best of all, gives examples from the actual operations of lodging and restaurant establishments. Especially strong are the sections on contract law, safety and security, and employment issues.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the legal issues that arise in the everyday decisions that a lodging property professional must make.

In the shadow of the upcoming Supreme Court decision concerning affirmative action, I wanted to do some research on the issue. This books treatment is excellant. There are detailed articles about the Bakke and Hopwood cases. There's a summary of the Harvard's affirmitive action policy which was praised by the Supreme Court in the Bakke case as an excellant policy. An article opposing all civil rights laws followed by an artcile that justifies affirmative action are both thought provoking. There is also an intersting article about various ways to look at equality and fairness in treating your children in different situations.

The upcoming decision in the Michigan case may truly be a watershed opinion on affirmative action at least in university admission cases. Justice Blackmun said it best in the Bakke case: "there is no other way" than affirmative action. We cannot end racism without taking into account race.

I am from South Korea and now living in Indiana, USA. This book has been
very popular in my country because the book is very helpful for preparing for law schools, especially for LSAT reading part.
This book made me not only get used to LSAT reading style but also
understanding comprehensive US law system and philosophy based on it.

This book breaks down Tort law tremendously. It was highly recommended by a second year law student and it totally helped when it came time for finals. It takes each section of the Prosser and Wade text and breaks it down into the most basic form. I'd recommend to all.

I have talked with my high school students about the fact that although there are defining moments in life, we should not let one moment define who we are for the rest of our lives. This is a great story to exemplify this point! Although drug use and sales are important components of the novel (and serve to attract the attention of adolescent readers), drugs are not glorified, which is an important point that parents and educators should be aware of if asked to defend this book choice. It can also be used for students to see how one author "found his voice" and became a writer. Interesting read that will hold the attention of even reluctant readers.

Jack Gantos' "Hole in My Life" is his autobiography and story of how he left his hometown to become a writer and ended up in a federal prison along the way.
His memoir is very well written and truthful. He describes very well his situation and the quirky characters he comes in contact with. He shows that the road to becoming a writer is rarely smooth and how spending time in jail, in fact, helped his writing career.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting the real story of a troubled kid that is both well written and meaningful.

I came online to order this book. I just got this audio tape from the library and listened to it in the car with my "pre-teen" children. Its a great story and his delivery of the tale is funny and dry and compelling. He never gets preachy or plays the victim. We hated getting out of the car when we reached our destination because we needed to know how the story ended. I didn't get it as a "lesson" to my kids--I didn't even really know what it was about. But it turned out to be a great lesson and entertaining at the same time.

Hole in my Life by John Gantos was one of the most compelling reads that I have found in a very long time. Rather then writing just a memoir, his use of musing, self-discovery, and character building create a story that reads as a dripping dramatic novel.
Gantos uses musing in a very smooth manner throughout this novel. His first chapter, and the openings of many other chapters consist of him reflecting on the event past by grabbing the readers attention and foreshadowing towards an unknown future. He also uses musing to bring humor into such terrible situations. For example, when talking about the arrest that brought him to prison, he references about how prisoners have some funny stories about their experiences of "getting caught." By using past and present tense fluently throughout the novel, Gantos transitions through this time in his life in a very well-written re-creation.
The main point that Gantos is trying to make is that throughout these events he went through, he changed from wanting something from his life to taking charge and pursuing his goals. One statement that he commonly uses is that he "needs to stop thinking about being a writer and just be one." It takes him being secluded in jail to realize that the possibilities for him to create a life out of his ambitions are endless.
Rather than using many characters to help describe his personality, Gantos specifically centers on his own thoughts, feelings, and emotions to give the reader an image. The connection the reader feels towards Gantos throughout the novel is based on his descriptions of how places, people, events, and objects have changed him for better or worse. He builds a strong structure of description that changes the feeling of the book from a memoir to a fantastic, story-driven rollercoaster. I couldn't help but feel his sense of anguish as he was thrown into a spiral of tumultuous events.

Hole in My Life
By Jack Gantos
"You don't just end up homeless, hung-over, sleeping in your car with all your worldly possessions because you have control of your life." That is one of my favorite quotes from this book, and there are many more, too. Hole in My Life was one of the best books I've ever read alongside Go Ask Alice. One reason is that it is a biography (the author wrote about himself), and another reason is because it connected to my life a whole lot more than I expected it to.
Jack Gantos was an ordinary aspiring writer just trying to get into a nice college. Then one of his friends offered him ten thousand dollars to help crew a boat loaded with smuggled drugs to New York. He has an adventure that looks good for his future, but eventually takes a turn for the worse.
I really liked this book, mostly because of the description the author used and much of the word choices. For example, "...with the needle in my arm and the blood blooming into the syringe..." or when he's explaining his drunken stupors he uses the phrase "power barfed." I love this category of writing and I'm pretty sure I always will and I encourage many of you to read it because you will probably learn many life lessons. Even if you do think you'll never get caught. I used to think that, too.
By: Jaime Erlenbaugh Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

I am taking my first college business law class (I also took it in high school). I expected a college level course and text to be more advanced, but I have to agree that this text is a bit confusing. If the tests were based on the text alone, I do not think I would do well on them. Thankfully, my notes from lecture and use of the study guide are saving me. I'm used to reading once, retaining the information and focusing more on the additional information provided in the lectures. I cannot do that with this text. I read the chapters two or three times and still feel confused. I have a 3.9 GPA and I hope this class (or should I say textbook) doesn't ruin it for me.

This edition is one of the better editions to come out. My professor didn't use the book in class, in fact he gave it bad reviews. We were advised to have the book to look up topics in more detail. We were also advised to study the chapter review questions, as they were used as test questions.

As the first reviewer said, the book does take the long way around subjects and tends to leave you confused when you actually try to read it.

As for the other reviewer, Spiral, I'm sorry you paid for a college education that didn't teach you how to spell.

utalizes is spelled utilizes and virtualy should be virtually

I found the book to be confusing in most cases. It would seem as though it would make runaround in descriptions. It would try to explain things in to much detail, thereby confusing the hell out of you.

An excelent source of information on Business Law. I had this book for my first college course in Business law and without it I might have failed. The book utalizes real cases and situations to explain virtualy every topic. The text is presented in a very clear and concise manner and applies to Business Law as practiced in America today. I personally have even used the information in this book to argue a case of my own in small claims and won. Im sure the other reviewer of this book just didn't take the time to study and learn the information. Rely on experience, not ramblings, buy this book!

This is the kind of book that I keep giving to people and needing to buy another copy. Lots of wisdom for functioning in a multicultural world.

I had to read this book for a class I am taking. The content starts out good but quickly comes very repetitive. The author seems to have a chip on his shoulder.

Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America
Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in AmericaThe Future Is Mestizo: Life Where Cultures Meet
Reading the Bible from the Margins
United by Faith: The Multiracial Congregation As an Answer to the Problem of Race
"Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity

The Wolf Shall Dwell With The Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community, by Eric H.F. Law.

Eric Law delivers a passionate plea for Isaiah's vision of the peaceable realm to be lived out in multicultural community. He writes, "If cultures are analogous to animals then Isaiah 11 becomes a vision of cultures living together in harmony and peace."


Law does an exceptional job unpacking ideas of internal and external culture. External cultural differences are easy to change or coexist with, however, internal differences are like the iceberg under water--daunting, mysterious, and seemingly impossible to challenge. Using a colorblind test as an example of internal culture, Law illustrates how people see things differently. To successfully take our faith across culture, he argues, we must empower, franchise, and equally value the different perceptions. The beginning of the journey across cultures is about listening and paying attention to both answers!

Law gets to the heart of the spirituality required for multicultural leadership by approaching inequality as "power distance." Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful will accept that power is distributed unequally. This becomes a fascinating discussion, complete with graphics and tables of power distances by country. When whites as well as people of color recognize that this power distance exists, the first step towards justice occurs!

Law goes on to teach a new reading on Acts 2, challenging leaders to learn "power analysis"--examining who has the power and who doesn't. Pentecost then becomes not just a miracle of the tongue but also a miracle of the ear. The Holy Spirit gave away power by moving the powerful to a state of listening, though the powerful usually do the talking. And the powerless--those who heard in their native tongues--were enfranchised as they received power through the miracle of tongues. Law purposes that this is the bridge-building normative work of the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless Law warns that if the church truly wants to have that Pentecostal moment, it must value monocultural gatherings, not as a return to segregation but rather because cultures (the powered and the powerless) need to "do their homework before a true Pentecostal encounter can occur."

These three discussions on internal culture, power, and the rethinking of Acts 2 show the reader what is necessary to begin a multicultural church--the Pentecost moment where the wolf lays down with the lamb. This book holds the reader's attention and gives practical insights that are immediately applicable to ministry and leadership development.

I have attempted to read as many educational resources as possible on the subject of multicultural ministry, because I believe it is vital that Christian leaders in North America become more effective in reaching out to their diverse communities. Thus, I was thrilled to see a book published on "A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community." However, upon reading Law's book, I felt that his observations could have been summarized in a few pages. If all you are looking for is a resource that highlights that "whites of Northern European origin - tend to dominate," - then, this is the book for you.

After having worked for 7 years in a foreign country and culture, I experienced a lot of frustration as I met the culture. Law's book is one of the best I've found in helping me see (albeit in hindsight) what was going on. His distinctions were helpful. I recommend this book for people working (or about to work) in a multi-cultural setting. He gives practical suggestions and some helpful theoretical frameworks to assist those who are bewildered (or about to be bewildered!) with an encounter with those of different cultural mindsets. It was just the book I needed to reflect upon my overseas experience.