*One L*, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school introduces and a best-seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it brings alive the anxiety and competiveness--with others and, even more, with oneself--that set the tone in this crucible of character building. Turow's multidimensional delving into his protagonists' psyches and his marvelous gift for suspense prefigure the achievements of his celebrated first novel, *Presumed Innocent*, one of the best-selling and most talked about books of 1987.

Each September, a new crop of students enter Harvard Law School to begin an intense, often grueling, sometimes harrowing year of introduction to the law. Turow's group of One Ls are fresh, bright, ambitious, and more than a little daunting. Even more impressive are the faculty: Perini, the dazzling, combative professor of contracts, who presents himself as the students' antagonist in their struggle to master his subject; Zechman, the reserved professor of torts who seems so indecisive the students fear he cannot teach; and Nicky Morris, a young, appealing man who stressed the humanistic aspects of law.

Will the One Ls survive? Will they excel? Will they make the* Law Review*, the outward and visible sign of success in this ultra-conservative microcosm? With remarkable insight into both his fellows and himself, Turow leads us through the ups and downs, the small triumphs and tragedies of the year, in an absorbing and throught-provoking narrative that teaches the reader not only about law school and the law but about the human beings who make them what they are.

In the new afterword for this edition of *One L*, the author looks back on law school from the perspective of ten years' work as a lawyer and offers some suggestions for reforming legal education.

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### From Library Journal

Actor Paul Rudd deftly narrates this fascinating story of author Turow's experience as a first-year Harvard Law School student. Moreover, Rudd's voice sounds remarkably like Turow's, who provides an introduction. Personal narratives written by successful, famous persons should have to pass a humility test in which all references to entrance exam scores, grade point averages, and collegial or professional honors are stricken from the text, and editors' jobs should depend on how well they apply that test. The editor of this production would receive a solid A-. Even though we know he goes on to fabulous success as both a lawyer and a writer, Turow's initial ego is beautifully subdued by the end of his year as a "One L."?Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

### Review

"The most accurate, complete, and balanced description yet of a century-old rite of passage in America."--Bruce Bortz,* Baltimore Sun*

"A sensitive, dramatically paced account of the author's fist year at Harvard Law School...I read the book as if it were the most absorbing of thrillers, losing track of the time I spent with it, and resenting the hours I had to be away from it...It should be read by anyone who has ever contemplated going to law school. or anyone who has ever worried about being human."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, T*he New York Times*