The Nine

Toobin's take on the nine people who sit on the nation's highest court is intimate, personal, and vital. He focuses mostly on the personalities in the Rehnquist Court and the current Roberts Court, showing how character, background, and political philosophy influence the decisions made by the Court on the great issues like civil rights, presidential powers, church-state relations, and the defining issue of the past thirty years--abortion. Don Leslie reads Toobin's complex analyses of the justices with feeling and understanding, neither exaggerating nor minimizing the issues. He is faithful to the author's affection for certain justices--O'Connor, Souter, and Rehnquist--while being respectful of his antipathy to others. Behind-the-scenes struggles, such as Bush v. Gore, are explored in detail, because they affect the future and because, though changes in the Court's direction are snail slow, they ultimately define the United States' role in the world. P.E.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine


This book is Toobin's commentary on the evolution of the Supreme Court from the Reagan administration onward. He starts from what has been characterized as a liberal court, moves to a court that moderates held in check, and ends with the current court ands its decidedly conservative bias. Toobin's reading and writing styles reflect a fascination with the personalities of the justices (some more than others), the politics within the court, and the effect of both on some of the most important decisions of recent years. His narrative style is first newsy, then intense and scholarly, then amused. The abridgment is relatively smooth. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine