American Epic: Reading the U.S. Constitution

by Garrett Epps

In 1987, E.L. Doctorow celebrated the Constitution's bicentennial by reading it. "It is five thousand words long but reads like fifty thousand," he said. Distinguished legal scholar Garrett Epps--himself an award-winning novelist--disagrees. It's about 7,500 words. And Doctorow "missed a good deal of high rhetoric, many literary tropes, and even a trace of, if not wit, at least irony," he writes. Americans may venerate the Constitution, "but all too seldom is it read."

In American Epic, Epps takes us through a complete reading of the Constitution--even the "boring" parts--to achieve an appreciation of its power and a holistic understanding of what it says. In this book he seeks not to provide a definitive interpretation, but to listen to the language and ponder its meaning. He draws on four modes of scriptural, legal, lyric, and epic. The Constitution's first three words, for example, sound spiritual--but Epps finds them to be more aspirational than prayer-like. "Prayers are addressed to someone . . . either an earthly king or a divine lord, and great care is taken to name the addressee. . . . This does the reverse. The speaker is 'the people,' the words addressed to the world at large." He turns the Second Amendment into a poem to illuminate its ambiguity. He notices oddities and omissions. The Constitution lays out rules for presidential appointment of officers, for example, but not removal. Should the Senate approve each firing? Can it
withdraw its "advice and consent" and force a resignation? And he challenges himself, as seen in his surprising discussion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in light of Article 4, which orders states to give "full faith and credit" to the acts of other states.

Wry, original, and surprising, American Epic is a scholarly and literary tour de force.

Genres: History, Law, Nonfiction, Politics, Government, American History

274 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Garrett Epps (born in 1950 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American legal scholar, novelist, and journalist. He is Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore; previously he was the Orlando J. and Marian H. Hollis Professor of Law at the University of Oregon.

Epps attended St. Christopher's School and Harvard College, where he was the President of The Harvard Crimson. He later received an M.A. in Creative Writing from Hollins University, and a law degree from Duke University, where he was first in his class. After graduation from Harvard, he was a co-founder of The Richmond Mercury, a short-lived alternative weekly whose alumni include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Frank Rich and Glenn Frankel. He also worked as an editor or reporter for The Richmond Afro-American, The Virginia Churchman, The Free-Lance Star, and The Washington Post. From 1983 until 1988, he was a columnist for Independent Weekly (then a bi-weekly). Immediately before coming to the University of Oregon, he spent a year clerking for the Honorable John D. Butzner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Epps has written two novels, including The Shad Treatment, which won the Lillian Smith Book Award, as well as the nonfiction books To An Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial, which was published in 2001 and was a finalist for the ABA's Silver Gavel Award, and Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Civil Rights in Post-Civil War America, which was published in 2006 and is the first comprehensive history of the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment. Democracy Reborn won the 2007 Oregon Book Award for non-fiction, and also was a finalist for the ABA Silver Gavel Award. He has also written numerous articles and editorials in newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic.

Reviews

[Leew49 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epps, a law professor, does an in-depth, line-by-line analysis of the US Constitution, "which so many revere and so many fewer have read." His analysis includes history, law, the subtleties of language and occasional biting editorial comment. AMERICAN EPIC is a very thoughtful book, sometimes difficult but worth the effort and very relevant to our time.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was gifted to me by my US History loving father. I felt like I was in a college lecture while reading it it’s a great way to get straight to the point interpretations of the constitution with both historical and contemporary context. I wish it was written after 2016 but it was definitely still relevant and good for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of the constitution but may be intimidated by books designed for law students. It should probably be required reading in high school civics.

[Jacob Lines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garrett Epps is a law professor, but he used to be a journalist and a novelist. It shows. He is an excellent writer. But more importantly, he is a first-rate reader and storyteller. In this book, he reads the U.S. Constitution – the whole thing – and talks. Imagine the most entertaining dinner companion ever telling you about the constitution over dessert or drinks. This is not a book of interpretation. It isn’t even explication. Together, you and Epps read the constitution and he tells stories about it. His approach is open-minded, generous, intelligent, learned, imaginative, careful, amused, humane, at times joyful. His four modes of reading – scriptural, legal, lyric, and epic – show more about the constitution than tomes of analysis may tell. Even if you have read dozens of books about the constitution, Epps’s reading will open your eyes to something new. He compares parts of Article I to Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. He turns the Second Amendment into an Emily Dickinson poem. And it works! It is nothing short of astonishing. This book excites me so much that I feel compelled to use a metaphor. In this book, Epps holds shows his readers an exceptional gem, but he doesn’t say, “This is a beautiful yet flawed diamond.” Instead, he gets out a microscope for two and shows you each facet and flaw carefully and thoughtfully. Even if you already know your constitution, read this and relish it.

[Amy Lindberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging waltz through the phrasing choices in the Constitution.
Epps imagines what intents there were behind comma placements and word choice, sometimes amusingly and sometimes deadly seriously.
This book isn't exactly gripping, but it does give new ways to consider the language of our founding document.

Highly recommended if you think it would be fun to read an explanation of how the word "construed" changes the meaning of the sentence. If that sounds like a drag, this book isn't for you. Would be a fine read for an AP Language student - this is exactly the kind of discussion students should be having in that class.

This was published in 2013, and some of the commentary on the later amendments lands differently in 2021 than it might have in 2013. One of the most prescient passages was at the end of discussion of the "1960s amendments" (and why we don't ratify amendments by states' popular votes):

"One is tempted to take this failure as a tribute to the wisdom of the Framers and the cumbersome amendment process they designed. But it also is a devastating comment on the gathering darkness of American politics. In the past four decades, the national dialogue has turned away from the quest for equality and focused more and more on which groups to punish."

[M.E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice, breezy tour of the Constitution of the United States. I don't agree with all of Epps's opinions on the Constitution, but those opinions aren't crazy.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an outstanding running documentary on the constitution, section by section. The description of the document as varying forms of language is unique and uplifting. The comparison between discrete English language used in 1878 compared to today and overlaid on top of historical references and understandings is enlightening.

[Brigham Wilson]

close reading and analysis of US Constitution . slow, dense, fascinating

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book for those who really want to know the history of the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Epps, a constitutional scholar pretty much dispels so many of the myths surrounding the document and one of the most interesting facts is that even the Founding Fathers weren't sure what they meant when it was all over! They were arguing over it within a year or so of the ink drying. The fact that nearly 230 years later we have the hubris to say we know what they meant is ludicrous!

[Diane]

on hold

[Ideal_rain]

n

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, lucid, provocative, and even humorous close read of the U.S. Constitution, warts and all.

[Mills College Library]

342.7302 E644 2013