[.ca] One L: The Turbulent True Story Of A First Year At ... (ISBN 0446673781)

The book probably does not represent the typical HLS Student:
I'm not sure what to make of Turow's book. Here is a guy who goes to Harvard Law School, an institution which has existed in its present form for well over 200 years. As a first year law student, he has the nerve to have all these criticisms of the institution -- that it's hostile, that the law is not warm and fuzzy, that there are clear boundaries in the law, which seem to indicate that he has choosen the wrong field. He seemed to be quite selfish in that he wanted the school to change many of its most cheerished methods of teaching to satisfy one alienated, empty-headed student. All readers assume that one's first year at Harvard Law School is challenging. Ironically, it does seem as though Harvard may have listened to Mr. Turow's complaints since I have not heard of the difficulty of the institution from other students/graduates. It is possible that they have dumbed-down the curriculum to satisfy those who would prefer to complain than learn. At the same time, this book certainly opens our perspective in how the law school class is set up, including the Socratic method, to which I was already quite familiar with. I would urge readers not to think that Mr. Turow's experience is at all shared by most at Harvard -- or any other institution. Remember that Mr. Turow just happened to want to write about his experience, but many others who choose not to write probably had drastically different experiences. Maybe they choose to learn and excel rather than to criticize an institution ten times their age. Mr. Turow's analysis of the other students also appears rather superficial and shallow. The students are essentially grouped into the achievers, the complainers (who think of themselves as "intellectuals," but who, in reality, are no more intellectual than a kindergardener with a crayon), and the professors who "harass" the students. What about the exact types of questions one faces in law school. How are the questions different from undergraduate life? Is law school merely a tarriff to prevent competition in the legal professsion? Also, as with most people who advocate change, Mr. Turow is remarkably short on specifics on how he would change the law school experience. The lack of specifics is common for those who gripe about the present but are unable to explain an alternative system to which they aspire. This is certainly an interesting book, but I would hesitate to think that it is the Bible of the Law School experience. It is merely one story about one institution in a particular year.

a good read, not a guidebook:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I feel like it gave me a rough idea of what to expect as a 1L, but I won't know for sure until I actually become one myself. For now, I would recommend it to anyone interested in going to law school but isn't really sure what your education will entail (as was my situation when I initially read the book). Since it was written so long ago and the author was pretty much commissioned to write it, I wouldn't take it as a true-to-life guide to being a 1L nowadays, although I'm sure a lot of experiences transcend schools and generations.

IT HAS A SPOOKY ATTRACTION:
I'm a Brit and I'm not a lawyer, I left University 22 years ago. I have kids and a dog (and a wife). I have never been to the USA and know virtually nothing about Harvard. So why have i read this book FIVE TIMES !!? It must be VOODOO because the whole thing about struggling through law school inspired me. Not only have I read it 5 times outright, I find myself even now dipping into it to catch a quick fix. It is a truly tremendous book, full of humanity, intellectual discussion and it evinces a real love of the law. It is probably one of, if not thee, best book old ST has written.

Essential read for pre-laws; still a good read for others.:
This is a great book. If you are thinking about Law School, you HAVE to read it. Understand, though, that the Law School experience--and the HLS experience, in specific--has changed a lot since the time this book was written. Still, nothing can give you a better idea of what law school will be like than this book. Today, hundreds of law students keep blogs of their experience--this phenomenon was clearly inspired by this book, which is written like (and, in fact adapted from) Turow's journal. Even if you're not Law School bound, this is an exciting, engaging book that tells a great story. Turow is, of course, a successful author and an established writer. This book stands on its own as a good read.

A Peek Inside:
For someone like me, who is considering law school, this book is definitely a worthwhile "peek inside" the experience of law school, or at least the first year. Not being a law student I don't have anything to compare it to, but reading about Turow's experience and comparing to the experience of lawyer acquaintances makes it seem to hold a lot of truth. True, it's probably a bit dated, but it's a worthwhile read for anyone who's considering law school.