Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases

by Michael Chabon (Editor), Ayelet Waldman (Editor), Dave Cole (Foreword by)

Overview

Award-winning writers contribute to a “moving . . . entertaining . . . enlightening” collection of essays, each inspired by a historic ACLU case (New York Times).

On January 19, 1920, a small group of idealists and visionaries, including Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Roger Baldwin, and Crystal Eastman, founded the American Civil Liberties Union. A century after its creation, the ACLU remains the nation’s premier defender of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

In collaboration with the ACLU, authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman have curated an anthology of essays “full of struggle, emotion, fear, resilience, hope, and triumph” (Los Angeles Review of Books) about landmark cases in the organization’s one-hundred-year history. Fight of the Century takes you inside the trials and the stories that have shaped modern life. Some of the most prominent cases that the ACLU has been involved in—Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Miranda v. Arizona—need little introduction. Others you may never even have heard of, yet their outcomes quietly defined the world we live in now.

Including essays from Neil Gaiman, Meg Wolitzer, Salman Rushdie, Ann Patchett, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Hector Tobar, Louise Erdrich, George Saunders and many more, Fight of the Century reminds us that the issues the ACLU has engaged over the past one hundred years remain as vital as ever today.

“Vigorous, informative, and well-organized, this outstanding collection befits the ACLU’s substantial impact on American law and society.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A stunning collection of original and topical essays.” —Booklist, starred review

“Lively, contextually grounded stories that read like the greatest hits of freedom. . . . riveting and refreshingly diverse.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501190421
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	332
Sales rank:	41,102
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of many books, including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Gentlemen of the Road, Telegraph Avenue, Moonglow, Pops, and the picture book The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man. He is the editor, with Ayelet Waldman, of Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation and Fight of the Century.
Michael Chabon (b. 1963) is an acclaimed and bestselling author whose works include the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000). Chabon achieved literary fame at age twenty-four with his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), which was a major critical and commercial success. He then published Wonder Boys (1995), another bestseller, which was made into a film starring Michael Douglas. One of America’s most distinctive voices, Chabon has been called “a magical prose stylist” by New York Times Book Review, and is known for his lively writing, nostalgia for bygone modes of storytelling, and deep empathy for the human predicament.

Hometown:

Berkeley, California

Date of Birth:

May 24, 1963

Place of Birth:

Washington, D.C.

Education:

B.A., University of Pittsburgh; M.F.A., University of California at Irvine

Website:

http://www.michaelchabon.com/

Table of Contents

Introduction Michael Chabon Ayelet Waldman xiii

Foreword David Cole xvii

Viet Thanh Nguyen on Stromberg v. California (1931) 1

Jacqueline Woodson on Powell v. Alabama (1932) and Patterson v. Alabama (1935) 6

Michael Chabon on United States v. One Book Called "Ulysses" (1933) 11

Ann Patchett on Edwards v. California (1941) 24

Brit Bennett on West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) 29

Steven Okazaki on Korematsu v. United States (1944) 34

Daniel Handler on Hannegan v. Esquire (1946) 40

Geraldine Brooks on Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949) 44

Yaa Gyasi on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) 49

Sergio De La Pava on Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) 57

Dave Eggers on Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) 66

Timothy Egan on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) 71

Yiyun Li on Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965) 77

Meg Wolitzer on Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) 82

Hector Tobar on Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 86

Aleksandar Hemon on Loving v. Virginia (1967) 93

Elizabeth Strout On Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) 100

Adrian Nicole Leblanc on Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969) 105

Rabih Alameddine on Street v. New York (1969) 112

Moriel Rothman-Zecher on Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) 118

Jonathan Lethem on Cohen v. California (1971) 128

Salman Rushdie on New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) 133

Lauren Groff on Roe v. Wade (1973) and Doe v. Bolton (1973) 138

Ayelet Waldman on O'Connor v. Donaldson (1975) 145

Jennifer Egan on Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975) 152

Scott Turow on Buckley v. Valeo (1976) 158

Morgan Parker on Bob Jones University v. United States (1983) 166

Victor Lavalle on Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993) 183

Michael Cunningham on Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995) 189

Neil Gaiman on Reno v. ACLU (1997) and Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004) 196

Jesmyn Ward On City of Chicago v. Morales (1999) 205

Moses Sumney on Zadvydas v. Davis (2001) 213

George Saunders on Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St Cyr (2001) 224

Marlon James on Lawrence v. Texas (2003) 237

William Finnegan on Rasul v. Bush (2004) 243

Anthony Doerr on Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005) 252

Charlie Jane Anders on Schroer v. Billington (2008) 263

Brenda J. Child on Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (2013) 268

Andrew Sean Greer on United States v. Windsor (2013) 280

Louise Erdrich on ACLU v. United States Department of Defense, et al. (2018) 286

Acknowledgments 293

The Contributors 295

Copyright Credits 303

Editorial Reviews

"Compelling . . . [A] powerful, inspiring collection." —The Christian Science Monitor

"Forceful, beautifully written and often humorous . . . The essays in Fight of the Century may be brief, but each packs a mighty wallop. . . . This is a book to read, share and keep." —Associated Press

"Full of struggle, emotion, fear, resilience, hope, and triumph." —Los Angeles Review of Books

“Moving . . . Entertaining . . . It’s enlightening to watch some of our most masterly literary portraitists restore the warts and wardrobes, the motivations and machinations to those whose stories have been stripped down to surnames or pseudonyms.”
—Monica Youn, New York Times Book Review

"Vigorous, informative, and well-organized, this outstanding collection befits the ACLU’s substantial impact on American law and society."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A stunning collection of original and topical essays . . . [that] vividly brings consequential court cases to life."
—Booklist (starred review)

"A finely edited almanac of lively, contextually grounded stories that read like the greatest hits of freedom . . . Provides insights that are both riveting and refreshingly diverse."
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2020

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been at the forefront of cases related to civil rights in the United States for more than a century. Marking the organization's centennial, this collection edited by Chabon (The Yiddish Policeman's Union) and Waldman (Love and Treasure) examines not just the history, but also the social context and ongoing impact of the ACLU's landmark rulings. Highlights include Chabon's analysis of the 1933 case United States v. One Book Called Ulysses, describing how the James Joyce novel was labeled obscene and its import forbidden under the Tariff Act of 1930. Author Marlon James explores how racism and homophobia intersect in Lawrence v. Texas, the case that found discriminatory laws regulating homosexual sex unconstitutional. Poet Morgan Parker's response to Bob Jones University v. United States recounts a sermon by the evangelical university's founder supporting segregation, and considers the use of biblical distortion to uphold oppression. VERDICT At a time in which civil rights are under threat worldwide, this collection is a reminder that basic human rights and dignity tend to get crushed under populism. An essential, necessary look at a century of progress, with a eye to the ever-present threat of losing those hard-won rights.—Bart Everts, Rutgers Univ.-Camden Lib., NJ.

Library Journal

This collection of essays highlights major case law argued by the American Civil Liberties Union over the last century. Works by authors such as Viet Thanh Nguyen, Neil Gaiman, George Saunders, and more are narrated by performers such as Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Stewart, and Lucy Liu. Beyond providing a fascinating exploration of the work accomplished by the ACLU, the audiobook also presents listeners with a rich history of case law that makes aspects of the past and present meaningful and personal. Issues such as the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII gain new perspective in relation to ICE raids and child detention centers. On the whole, the narrators prove to be well suited to the essays and quite often have personal ties to their topics. L.E. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile

This collection of essays highlights major case law argued by the American Civil Liberties Union over the last century. Works by authors such as Viet Thanh Nguyen, Neil Gaiman, George Saunders, and more are narrated by performers such as Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Stewart, and Lucy Liu. Beyond providing a fascinating exploration of the work accomplished by the ACLU, the audiobook also presents listeners with a rich history of case law that makes aspects of the past and present meaningful and personal. Issues such as the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII gain new perspective in relation to ICE raids and child detention centers. On the whole, the narrators prove to be well suited to the essays and quite often have personal ties to their topics. L.E. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile