Newsweek calls him "an extraordinarily canny and empathetic observer." In bestseller after bestseller, Turow uses his background as a lawyer to cre...
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Sep 05, 2007
Suede
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bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bi
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Apr 24, 2008
Jen
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Not that I was ever considering going to law school, but Scott Turow's account of his time as a "One L" at Harvard Law School in 1976 squashed that inkling of mine that it might be fun to try.
It's a well-written book, though, and certainly a must for anyone headed down that path. Turow doesn't sugarcoat any of it -- the unyielding professors, the cattiness between students. And just because the story itself is 30 years old doesn't mean it isn't valid: Very few law schools More...
It's a well-written book, though, and certainly a must for anyone headed down that path. Turow doesn't sugarcoat any of it -- the unyielding professors, the cattiness between students. And just because the story itself is 30 years old doesn't mean it isn't valid: Very few law schools More...
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Mar 28, 2009
Mary JL
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Since I have often read legal thrillers, I was interested in how the lawyers are trained. Scott Turow's book about his firt year at Harvard Law School I found very, very interesting.
Some of the technical data may have changed--prices for lawyers; people use laptops now not typewriters and so on. But human nature changes slowly if at all. The pressure, stress and competitiveness that Turow describes no doubt still fairly accurate even after all these years.
I recommende More...
Some of the technical data may have changed--prices for lawyers; people use laptops now not typewriters and so on. But human nature changes slowly if at all. The pressure, stress and competitiveness that Turow describes no doubt still fairly accurate even after all these years.
I recommende More...
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Apr 28, 2008
Aaron
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This book is fine, except how people keep insisting it has anything to do with the actual common experience of law school. A good read for anyone who does not want to go to law school, who has already gone to law school and wants to read a book that does not correspond in any way with their own experiences, those lawyers who persist in thinking that law is "really hard" and not just a terminal degree for the aimlessly clever, or those who will find confirmation of their existing preju
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Aug 18, 2007
Sean
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Before I started law school, I was repeatedly told to buy best selling author Turow’s version of his first year at Harvard “if for no other reason than everyone else there will have read it”.
Well, I’m one week into law school, and no one has mentioned it, thanks. Still, it wasn’t a totally waste of time. Reading how horrific Turow’s professors were to him steeled me for my first day of class. I was totally ready for someone to cry. No one did. I was almost disappointed at how n More...
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Sep 01, 2011
Eric_W
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The traumatic experiences of Scott Turow at Harvard veneered in not-so subtle fiction. Read it years ago and loved it. My brother, who went to Harvard Law School says it's very true to reality. I was reminded or it by a scene from The Abbey in which Detective Sergeant Ashraf Rashid's cell phone goes off during law class. The professor in The Abbey, who bears a likeness to One L's Professor Perini/Kingsfield admonishes
Scene from The Abbey: “ 'And I’m sorry we allowed a clearly unqua More...
Scene from The Abbey: “ 'And I’m sorry we allowed a clearly unqua More...
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Jun 03, 2011
Chris
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I never, ever had a desire to go to law school, but for some reason this book called me to it. I heard it mentioned somewhere and then kept running into it at the store where I work. It was on sale for $3.99, so that was another bonus. I haven't read any of Turow's legal thrillers, yet, but I may now. One L is the story of Turow's first year at Harvard Law School in 1977. He covers the emotional ups and downs of that first year and how and why he and his peers changed for the better and how some
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May 18, 2011
Kristal
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Either Scott Turow is a much more subtle and subversive writer than I give him credit for, or I am a terrible person. I think this is best illustrated by the inverse relationship I discovered during my reading: the less I found myself able to tolerate Turow's admittedly well-written ruminations, the more I wanted to mail off 50 applications to law school and celebrate my acceptance by inviting Professor Perini to dinner. <spoiler>Presumably, Turow would like me to share his horror at the c
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Jul 15, 2010
Rebekah
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Dear Dad,
Thanks for giving me One L to read! You rarely impress upon me the need to read any one book in particular, so when you put this book in my hands I actually put down the book I had recently started and instantly began devouring Turow’s memoir about his first year of law school. I don’t do that often. It stresses me out to put a book aside unfinished in favor of another book (which is also ironic considering the content of One L — it’s all about stress!). One L was also a li More...
Thanks for giving me One L to read! You rarely impress upon me the need to read any one book in particular, so when you put this book in my hands I actually put down the book I had recently started and instantly began devouring Turow’s memoir about his first year of law school. I don’t do that often. It stresses me out to put a book aside unfinished in favor of another book (which is also ironic considering the content of One L — it’s all about stress!). One L was also a li More...
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Apr 11, 2010
Dan
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I had long wanted to read this book because it’s an account of a student’s first year of law school from the 70s. There are just two problems with that formula: 1. It’s an account of a student’s first year of law school, and 2. It’s from the 70s. In other words, it’s both boring and outdated. I figured the boring part, but I overlooked the outdated part when I decided it was a must read before I head to law school in the fall.
It’s boring. It’s basically a diary of a Harvard law s More...
It’s boring. It’s basically a diary of a Harvard law s More...
Dec 23, 2009
Erik
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Far more insightful than watching The Paper Chase – I couldn’t even rouse myself to read the book upon which it’s based after seeing the underwhelming film adaptation recently – Turow’s autobiographical account of his first year at HLS is a far better narrative that really gets into the nuts and bolts of the initiation one undergoes during the first year of law school; the doubts, fears, insecurities, and small modicum of victories that are all wrapped up in the nonstop frenetic pace of those ni
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Apr 07, 2009
Evan
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The single most read book by people contemplating law school. There are clear pros and cons to this. On the pro side, Turow is a good writer who structures even this supposed transcript of his memoir with a fair amount of novelistic suspense. Our hero must confront good and evil personified by his various professors (seriously, there are times when you'd think you were reading Harry Potter). Ultimately, as in a good modern novel, he must face the true nemesis that lies within (his capacity to cr
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Jul 14, 2011
Michelle
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For lawyers, it's a fond look back to a wonderful, occasionally harrowing time. For prospective law school students this book is a wake-up call as to what the study of law will demand of you. If you're entering law school at a time when you're married, have a family, or even a set of very close friends - reading this book will help them understand why you've suddenly disappeared and, on the rare times you do see them, are unable to discuss current events or popular culture.
It submer More...
It submer More...
Aug 29, 2007
Erin
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Now, granted, I didn't go to Harvard Law, but I DID attend a fairly high ranked law school and, from my experience, Turow protests FAR too much. It makes for a good story, but oh, the drama! I only wish that William and Mary had been that exciting and filled with academic intrigue!
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Mar 25, 2010
Hilary
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Law school sounds pretty scary. This book is the result of a journal kept by Turow during his first year at Harvard Law School. The characters are pretty memorable: the tyrannical professor; the cutthroat classmate; the classmate who insists on fighting the system; the classmate who bursts into tears almost every day. This is considered recommended reading for anyone considering law school, and it's pretty sobering. Some things have changed since it was written (in 1975-76) but some things h
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Jan 27, 2009
Nancy
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An incredibly, horribly accurate synopsis of what a first year in law school is like. Still, today, anyone intending to enter law school should read this book to have an early understanding of the hell that awaits.
"But what looked to me to be the biggest trouble [with second and third year students:] was also the most obvious. In order to reach the second and third years, students must pass through the first year, and by then many have already had the stuffing kicked out of th More...
"But what looked to me to be the biggest trouble [with second and third year students:] was also the most obvious. In order to reach the second and third years, students must pass through the first year, and by then many have already had the stuffing kicked out of th More...
Feb 25, 2009
Frédérique
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A book about the first year of law school at Harvard. The people in this book are v. unhappy and stressed but they are the cause of these feelings within themselves. If they weren't so mean and competitive towards one another, there would be no need to be stressed, and if they weren't stressed they wouldn't be so mean and competitive. Vicious circle. Vicious circle.
Someone gave this to me as a prep for law school. Um, no. My law school was nothing like Harvard Law (in many respects! More...
Someone gave this to me as a prep for law school. Um, no. My law school was nothing like Harvard Law (in many respects! More...
Aug 25, 2009
Kendra
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I read this during the first month of my husband's first year of law school. I liked it. I don't remember all of the details, but I remember that it helped me empathize with the stress and the unique academic experience that he was headed into. I'm glad that I read it. It is written about a first year law student's experiences back in 1976 - and my husband started law school at BYU in 2007 - so I am sure that a lot of things were different - but the pressures and the stress are similar and r
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Jul 11, 2011
Matt
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Oh, I don't know. Turow's a good writer and it seems that there are certain trends in law school and law-school life that are the same now as they were 35 years ago.
Yet the book is so puffed-up about the world-historical impact of the first year of law school that it's hard to take it completely seriously -- for example, there is a note in the preface that the story could have taken place at any law school, but the word "Harvard" is used about every seventh word throughout the More...
Yet the book is so puffed-up about the world-historical impact of the first year of law school that it's hard to take it completely seriously -- for example, there is a note in the preface that the story could have taken place at any law school, but the word "Harvard" is used about every seventh word throughout the More...
Jun 25, 2010
Bryan
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Scott Turow writes an interesting autobiographical narrative from his first year at Harvard Law School. I am not really in a position to judge as of now, but it seems like he gets caught up in all the hype and handles it poorly. Much of the problems he sees with the way law school worked back in 1975 are being addressed, albeit slowly and incrementally. I shall see if what he says still holds true, especially the Afterword, where he talks about his experiences as a federal prosecutor in Chicago.
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Dec 08, 2008
Lori
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This non-fiction account of the author's first year at Harvard Law School, I have been told by a lawyer friend, is required reading for prospective law students at many law schools. Though it gets rather detailed and descriptive of law terms that most of us only hear used in courtroom dramas, I found it fascinating.
One of the most interesting aspects to me was the analysis of academic teaching and the attitudes, prestige and mental agility of the students. The journal covers his acade More...
One of the most interesting aspects to me was the analysis of academic teaching and the attitudes, prestige and mental agility of the students. The journal covers his acade More...
Sep 10, 2009
Jay
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I picked up this book because I've had some time off and I've always been curious about law school. For that, the book gives you an idea of the roller coaster of emotions and the anxiety involved in being a first year law student. However, the book gets repetitive and there are no surprises here. If you've been to college, you get it--just double it. I had a hard time finishing the book because there was nothing big really driving it...I didn't care if he got good grades, cracked up, or made
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Aug 22, 2007
awfully whiny - makes one want to go to law school, if only to show up the pathetic author
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Feb 17, 2010
Jonas
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Scott Turow's memoir about his first year at Harvard Law School in 1975. The take-home message: either Harvard Law School was a singularly miserable place in 1975 OR all law schools were miserable places in 1975 OR the 1970's were miserable times and the fashion industry doesn't deserve all of the blame (even if it deserves most of it). The book is organized like a diary, is very readable, and does a nice job of explaining how law school can corrupt the human soul. But I'm not sure it will ho
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Jan 05, 2010
Sam
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An exciting yet nerve-wracking (for an entering One L) account of the first year of law school. Although the harrowing pedagogical methods described by Turow have fallen out of common use in law schools, this is a valuable introduction to how the One L year is structured as well as some of the basic legal concepts discussed. It does not deal much with the substance of the field of law, but is nevertheless valuable for law students, if for no other reason than to know that you are not alone in th
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Apr 24, 2007
michelle
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Whiney recounting of Turow's first year at Harvard Law School.
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Feb 06, 2011
Rachel
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Probably only interesting to people considering law school and want to know the very minute details of the experience. Otherwise, I'd imagine it would be an endless bore that is completely unrelatable. I think it has valuable insight, even though it's from the 70s. Interesting to hear that even back then, when the market was excellent by today's standards, people had the same exact fears about finding a job and paying off debt as they do now. I give it 3/5 for lack of climax/anything remotely e
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Dec 22, 2011
Mark
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A very well written book that takes you from day one of a first year's experience at Harvard Law School to his last final of the year, with a little afterward about 2nd year and beyond. Definitely a must read for anyone thinking of going to law school. It presents a very thorough account of the comraderie, pressures, fears, competition and ethical challenges you can look forward to. It also made the experience seem less scary. The author realized he needn't have been so worried about everything
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Dec 09, 2009
Robertisenberg
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This was a fitting book to read in my first few weeks of grad school. The stress of Turow's first year at Harvard mirrored my own MFA surprises. But this is one dry read -- the masterful suspense of "Presumed Innocent" is utterly lost in Turow's first book. The author remains passive throughout, and the drama is basically flaccid. It offered some insight into the weaknesses of the traditional law-school program (the large-class socratic method, endless memorization, forbidden horn-book
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Aug 27, 2011
Hiro
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'One L' is a semi-nonfiction story about the author's experience as a first year law student, called one Ls, at Harvard Law School in the 1970's. The book follows his experience from his initial wonderment and excitement at the prospect of being at one of the world's most eminent law school, his exhilarating but tortuous time preparing and attending classes and being subject to the Socratic method of teaching, the agony and adrenaline rush of collaboration and competition among peers for the be
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