Books for Lawyers
Gift ideas for the readers in your law family .
MICHAEL K . JABLONSKI Law Office of Michael Jablonski mkj @ mkjablonski . com
The 2020 quarantine , at least for me , occasioned an appreciation of books I already owned and previously read . Although purchasing new tomes through outlets like Abe Books or Powell ’ s ( and yes , Amazon ) remained viable , the quarantine brought about a cultural withdrawal that extended to books .
I set two reading goals in that dark time . The first saw me re-read all the John le Carre ’ s “ Smiley ” books in chronological order . The second task , reading all published work by Graham Greene , brought me back to an author I had liked decades ago but had forgotten . It was like meeting an old friend .
The slow reopening of communal culture in 2021 made this year feel different in the book world . The past year became a time to revitalize book fandom . Just in time for the holidays , I once again list books that I think would be of interest to lawyers .
The list is not hierarchical , not judgmental , nor is it complete . My goal is to bring to your attention seven new books that I found entertaining . Anyone wishing to compile a fiction list should do so and send it to The Atlanta Lawyer .
“ Robert E . Lee : A Life ” By Allen C . Guelzo Professor Guelzo ' s biography is neither particularly hagiographic nor condemnatory . Lee comes across as being much more nuanced than the impression given by the statues of him that are disappearing ( finally ) across the South .
“ The Contrarian : Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley ’ s Pursuit of Power ” By Max Chafkin Described by Elon Musk as a sociopath , Chafkin ' s biography details how Thiel applied his wealth to promoting conservative causes , not so much to advance an ideology as to acquire political power .
“ Renewal : From Crisis to Transformation in Our Lives , Work , and Politics ” By Anne-Marie Slaughter Slaughter was a professor at Harvard Law , Dean of the International Affairs school at Princeton , director of policy planning at the State Department , CEO of the New America thinktank . She acknowledges privilege and shows how talented women transform themselves to overcome barriers strewn before them .
“ Fuzz : When Nature Breaks the Law ” By Mary Roach Reading about lawbreakers violates my edict against delving into books too much like lawyers ' work , but here the miscreants are animals and the author is the funniest writer on science topics that I know . Roach recounts that centuries ago animals charged with crimes were assigned counsel and tried .
“ The Genome Defense : Inside the Epic
Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA ” By Jorge L . Contreras In 2009 , Myriad Genetics and the ACLU lawyered up to try a patent case that decided whether a DNA sequence forming the basis for a breast cancer diagnostic tool was owned by the person whose DNA had been sequenced or the drug company that patented it ( and made millions ).
“ Scientist : E . O . Wilson : A Life in Nature ” By Richard Rhodes Wilson , the world ’ s top expert on myrmecology ( the study of ants ), transcended his chosen field to develop ideas common today , like biodiversity and sociobiology . Rhodes is best known for his eminently readable four volume history of nuclear weapons ( Pulitzer Prize , National Book Award ).
“ The Business of Tomorrow : The Visionary Life of Harry Guggenheim , From Aviation and Rocketry to the Creation of an Art Dynasty ” By Dirk Smillie Not the Guggenheim you know as the namesake of the Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned art gallery in New York City but his nephew , also an art collector and financier of early American aviation and space projects . He ran the foundation established by his parents , and funded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Cal Tech . He owned a horse that won the Kentucky Derby ( 1953 ) and started Newsday . F . Scott Fitzgerald was right about the rich being
different . www . atlantabar . org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 27