by Michael J. Perry
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| List Price: | $45.00 |
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Product Description
Several of the most divisive moral conflicts that have beset Americans in the period since World War II have been transmuted into constitutional conflicts and resolved as such. In his new book, eminent legal scholar Michael Perry evaluates the grave charge that the modern Supreme Court has engineered a "judicial usurpation of politics." In particular, Perry inquires which of several major Fourteenth Amendment conflicts--over race segregation, race-based affirmative action, sex-based discrimination, homosexuality, abortion, and physician-assisted suicide--have been resolved as they should have been. He lays the necessary groundwork for his inquiry by addressing questions of both constitutional theory and constitutional history. A clear-eyed examination of some of the perennial controversies in American life, We the People is a major contribution to modern constitutional studies.
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Average Customer Review:
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 Poorly Written, 2005-08-30
I am a political science major at the University of Vermont, and I recently purchased this book for a class on Constitutional Law. I am fascinated in American Politics and particularly Constitutional Law, so I figured this book would be a great read. Yet it turns out I was completely wrong. While the information and ideas presented in this book are interesting, I found it virtually impossible to read more than ten pages at a time. The reason for this is that Perry's writing style is extremely convoluded and overly complex(not in the positive sense). I would advise against buying this book, unless of course it is required for a course. I also find it in very poor taste for an author to review his own book, which Perry has done in this case.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Dimwits, 2005-01-18
In case you haven't noticed, in the first review of this book, below, Mr. Rainey spelled several words incorrectly: Instead of the correct "bicycle", he spelled "bycicle"; instead of "bright", he spelled "brite"; instead of "vicious", he spelled "viscious"; and by the way, "difficult" has an "i" between the "f" and the "c".
In the other review--the one entitled "Read Mr. Rainey's review"--Ely says "I've never written a book. This is my first one. But I read a lot of them and buy most of my books because of them." I assume Ely meant to say "I've never written a book review before...."
Now, if I were you, I wouldn't base whether or not I buy the book on reviews written by dimwits like these.
5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Read Mr. Rainey's review, 2005-01-17
I've never written a book review. This is my first one. But I read a lot of them and buy most of my books because of them. I bought this book about a year ago and recently picked it up to try, once more, to read it. When I got frustrated with it, I came here to find out why I bought it in the first place and discovered the battle waged here by the author and Mr. Rainey.
I can only say, I wish Mr. Rainey's review had been here last year. I would have saved my money. He is not exaggerating when he says the authors writing style is "deplorable". This book may contain some great information, but it has never been able to hold my attention for more than a few minutes at a time.
6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Author bites back, 2005-01-15
Given what Mounty Rainey said last week (see below) about this book (which was published five years ago), I want to reproduce here what some others have said about it. I'm not in the habit of responding to critics--usually I'm just grateful for the attention--but Rainey's comments are so over the top and misleading. (I defy Rainey to identify any passage in the book that is either a "tirade" or a "vicious attack" on anyone. Take your meds, Rainey!)
Richard S. Kay, University of Connecticut: "Perry's book is terrific. It is so careful, so measured, and so reasonable that it presents an almost irresistible argument. Nothwithstanding the numerous volumes published on Fourteenth Amendment interpretation, I've never seen anything that makes its points as forcefully and economically as Perry's book does--all without doing any injustice to the complexity of the underlying material."
Mark Tushnet, Georgetown University: "With great care and precision, Michael Perry develops an argument about constitutional interpetation that skillfully blends respect for original intent with the evolving traditions of the American people and with fundamental moral values, then applies that argument to a range of important contemporary constitutional issues, from gay marriage to affirmative action. Everyone who hopes to think clearly about these issues will profit from grappling with Perry's argument."
Larry Alexander, University of San Diego: "Michael Perry has written another 'must-read' book on constitutional law. Unlike most authors of multiple books on a subject, Perry does not seek to defend his earlier positions but instead is constantly rethinking them. And just as he has done in his earlier books, he arrives at fresh and thoughtful positions on many of the most important constitutional issues of our day: affirmative action, same-sex marriage, abortion, and physician-assisted suicide. No scholar of the Constitution can afford to ignore this book."
Richard B. Saphire, University of Dayton: "'We the People' is typical of all Perry's work: well organized, impressively researched, concisely written, and meticulously reasoned. It bears Perry's distinctive mark of scholarship--written with passion, vigor, confidence, and yet, humility. The book is full of fresh insights and (for a non-historian like myself) new and illuminating perspectives on the history and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment."
Now, if you want to know whether my writing is really "deplorable"--as Rainey claims--I suggest you click on the picture of the book (above) and read the introduction. Decide for yourself.
There--I feel better already.
8 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
 A Week Wasted, 2005-01-06
I don't normally write bad reviews, but I usually buy all my books based on the reviews of others and as no one has reviewed this book yet, I feel compelled to let readers know that I did not like this book.
To begin with, the authors writing style is deplorable. Constitutional lawyers tend to have a diffcult writing style, but it seems Perry went out of his way to make reading this book a difficult task. He could take a very simple sentence, such as "The boy rode a red bycicle" and turn it into a monstrosity such as "The boy, if in fact, we can be certain, the person in question was a boy, rode, and by that I mean, he sat upon and peddeled, a red, though there are many shades of red, i.e., blood red, ruby red, fire engine red, apple red and so on - here we are talking specifically of a brite red that has dulled somewhat over time - so for our discussion here, we will call it a rusty red, bicycle." You may think this a gross exaggeration, but it is not.
Perry attempts to give justification and support to the Courts use of the Fourteenth Amendment in a wide array of social cases ranging from affirmative action to abortion. He unconvincingly tries to make the case that the Courts have not usurped the Constitution by using the Fourteenth in reaching their decisions.
Perry tries very hard to appear to hold a moderate view of the Courts and the Law, but his conclusions are quite left-leaning. As with most from the left, he cannot contain himself from allowing his true agenda to rise to the top when he goes into one tirade after another lashing out at conservative judges such as Scalia, Bork, Thomas and Thayer. As the book drearily wears on, his conclusions morph from being differing conclusions into being outright viscious attacks.
I have given the book 2 stars because there will be a select reading audience that may enjoy, and would certainly agree with Perry's conclusions, but even those people can easily find books on the subject that are much more enjoyable and informative.
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