Scan barcode
angelofthetardis's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
4.0
I bought this book a long time ago after watching the TV drama 'American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson'. After seeing the news of the defendant's death, I was scrolling through my Kindle and the book jumped out at me, so I figured I should reread it.
Marcia Clark provides a wonderfully clear narrative of the prosecution's preparation and execution of the Simpson case, walking the reader through events and explaining the lawyers' thought processes, the facets of the case and the effect of the tidal wave of media interest in such a way as to convey the heinous crime and the unbearable pressures, but without bogging everything down with a 'woe is me' or sore loser attitude. While it is clearly not an objective and unbiased account, for the most part it reads as you would hope; a lawyer standing up for the rights of victims and keeping the aim of a fair trial in mind. That being said, she definitely had an uphill battle and is not afraid to speak out about her dislike for the judge, various members of the defence team and the defendant himself.
Looking at the bigger picture for a moment, the media acts like the spread of misinformation and 'fake news' is a recent phenomenon, but you only have to read Clark's comments about the jury pool to see that, while the medium may have changed from TV and magazines to the internet, the problem is definitely not new. I believe passionately in the right to a fair trial and innocent until proven guilty, but I honestly have no idea how it's even remotely possible to honour either of those maxims in a case like this. From the descriptions given by Clark, I would say that they gave it their best shot but the ingrained prejudices of all involved (not just regarding race, but all sorts of other things too), exacerbated by talking heads, sound bites and the desperation for exclusive headlines and/or a payday, were too big an obstacle to overcome.
Similarly, it also shows that we probably haven't come as far as we think with regard to the treatment of women in 'high powered' jobs. The coverage of Marcia wasn't so much about how she was an amazing lawyer and doing one hell of a job, but more about what she looked like, her personal life and her impending divorce. How she did not completely crumble under the pressure I will never understand, but I can only admire the fact that she kept on going in the face of it all. The moments where she does start feeling the effects are particularly emotive, and it's so frustrating to think that, again, the same things are still being said about female politicians, lawyers and other professional women 30 years later.
I'm not quite old enough to remember the case (plus I don't know how much coverage it was afforded in the UK), but this book does a great job at bringing it starkly to life. It manages to give an overview of the whole proceeding and enough detail to allow you to immerse yourself in the events without the need to hear the months of testimony. Yes, I was picturing Cuba Gooding Jr, Sarah Paulson, John Travolta etc in their respective roles from the TV series rather than the actual people, but the point is that it was very easy to see the story unfolding in my mind.
Of course, this is one of many books written by people involved in the trial. As much as I understand why they want to get their own versions of the story out there, a small part of me does find it all a bit hypocritical; there are several passages in the book where Clark comments about witnesses, jurors and others selling their stories with some disdain, and yet the only difference I can see is that she chose to do so after the trial, rather than during it (I don't blame her for being annoyed with those who sold their stories rather than tell them in court though). There is still some element of 'cashing in' on the notoriety of the case - indeed, her comments at the end are essentially justifying her reasons for doing so - which leaves a little bit of a bitter taste. Ultimately, the story should be about the victims and not the man in the dock or the lawyers.
A very interesting read.
Marcia Clark provides a wonderfully clear narrative of the prosecution's preparation and execution of the Simpson case, walking the reader through events and explaining the lawyers' thought processes, the facets of the case and the effect of the tidal wave of media interest in such a way as to convey the heinous crime and the unbearable pressures, but without bogging everything down with a 'woe is me' or sore loser attitude. While it is clearly not an objective and unbiased account, for the most part it reads as you would hope; a lawyer standing up for the rights of victims and keeping the aim of a fair trial in mind. That being said, she definitely had an uphill battle and is not afraid to speak out about her dislike for the judge, various members of the defence team and the defendant himself.
Looking at the bigger picture for a moment, the media acts like the spread of misinformation and 'fake news' is a recent phenomenon, but you only have to read Clark's comments about the jury pool to see that, while the medium may have changed from TV and magazines to the internet, the problem is definitely not new. I believe passionately in the right to a fair trial and innocent until proven guilty, but I honestly have no idea how it's even remotely possible to honour either of those maxims in a case like this. From the descriptions given by Clark, I would say that they gave it their best shot but the ingrained prejudices of all involved (not just regarding race, but all sorts of other things too), exacerbated by talking heads, sound bites and the desperation for exclusive headlines and/or a payday, were too big an obstacle to overcome.
Similarly, it also shows that we probably haven't come as far as we think with regard to the treatment of women in 'high powered' jobs. The coverage of Marcia wasn't so much about how she was an amazing lawyer and doing one hell of a job, but more about what she looked like, her personal life and her impending divorce. How she did not completely crumble under the pressure I will never understand, but I can only admire the fact that she kept on going in the face of it all. The moments where she does start feeling the effects are particularly emotive, and it's so frustrating to think that, again, the same things are still being said about female politicians, lawyers and other professional women 30 years later.
I'm not quite old enough to remember the case (plus I don't know how much coverage it was afforded in the UK), but this book does a great job at bringing it starkly to life. It manages to give an overview of the whole proceeding and enough detail to allow you to immerse yourself in the events without the need to hear the months of testimony. Yes, I was picturing Cuba Gooding Jr, Sarah Paulson, John Travolta etc in their respective roles from the TV series rather than the actual people, but the point is that it was very easy to see the story unfolding in my mind.
Of course, this is one of many books written by people involved in the trial. As much as I understand why they want to get their own versions of the story out there, a small part of me does find it all a bit hypocritical; there are several passages in the book where Clark comments about witnesses, jurors and others selling their stories with some disdain, and yet the only difference I can see is that she chose to do so after the trial, rather than during it (I don't blame her for being annoyed with those who sold their stories rather than tell them in court though). There is still some element of 'cashing in' on the notoriety of the case - indeed, her comments at the end are essentially justifying her reasons for doing so - which leaves a little bit of a bitter taste. Ultimately, the story should be about the victims and not the man in the dock or the lawyers.
A very interesting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Classism, Infidelity, and Misogyny
Minor: Abortion, Drug use, and Antisemitism
More...