A Civil Action

REPORT BY AJ

5 STARS *****

A civil action is the true story of a Boston Lawyer who takes on a case that consumes his life--think little guy against powerful corporate bullies.  Jonathan Harr (the author) convinced all of the lawyers and parties involved in the case to let him be a fly on the wall throughout the process, so he was able to capture all of the emotion and action (down to every last glare and fist pump) which makes it read like a novel.  I really enjoyed it, but the legal themes might not appeal to everyone.

Pros:

• really interesting expose to the legal world if you interested in law but aren't one of the attorneys in the family.  
• Page turner (took me about two weeks while in school; 500 pages)
• Themes of substance: ambition, justice, greed, virtues of an adversarial legal process, accountability

Con: Sometimes it gives you the feeling that you're working 100 hour weeks along side the characters in the book.