07/13/2015
Author, lawyer, and pundit Hirshman (Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution) offers a dual biography of the first two women appointed to the SCOTUS: Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She explores the two justices’ very different personalities and how their experiences as pioneering women in the legal profession informed their approaches to constitutional law. Of particular interest are Hirshman’s descriptions of the respective paths O’Connor and Ginsburg took to reach the Supreme Court. O’Connor, an obscure Arizona appellate judge, mixed extraordinary social skills, fierce self-reliance, and Republican connections to secure her historic nomination. Ginsburg, “the Thurgood Marshall of the women’s movement,” parlayed her work on a number of pivotal cases regarding the constitutional rights of women into her coveted appointment. Hirshman illuminates how Ginsburg and O’Connor navigated the high-stakes internal politics of the Supreme Court, and she takes the unusual step of addressing the influence that Supreme Court law clerks can have on the Court’s decision making. She also spends quality time discussing the evolution of the constitutional theories that the justices apply when analyzing such flash-point issues as reproductive rights and workplace sexual harassment. Hirshman’s conversational style and deep analysis of several precedent-setting constitutional cases should appeal to both casual and professional readers. (Sept.)
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World
Narrated by Andrea Gallo
Linda HirshmanUnabridged — 13 hours, 28 minutes
Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World
Narrated by Andrea Gallo
Linda HirshmanUnabridged — 13 hours, 28 minutes
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Overview
O'Connor and Ginsburg are arguably the two most influential women in American jurisprudence. Hirshman digs deep into their careers as lawyers, the path each took to the Court, their interactions with other justices and the decisions they wrote. The book is an excellent read, one with a good dose of legal drama, as well as a fascinating perspective on the history of the Court in the latter 20th century and the profound legacies these two justices had on the history of women's rights in America.
NPR Best Book of 2015
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
The author of the celebrated Victory tells the fascinating story of the intertwined lives of Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first and second women to serve as Supreme Court justices.
The relationship between Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg-Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher's daughter and Brooklyn girl-transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other's presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women.
Linda Hirshman's dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession-battles that would ultimately benefit every American woman. She also makes clear how these two justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women's lives.
Sisters-in-Law combines legal detail with warm personal anecdotes that bring these very different women into focus as never before. Meticulously researched and compellingly told, it is an authoritative account of our changing law and culture, and a moving story of a remarkable friendship.
Editorial Reviews
For anyone interested in the court, women’s history or both, the story of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, their separate routes to the Supreme Court and what they accomplished during the more than 12 years they spent together is irresistible.” — New York Times Book Review
“Linda Hirshman’s joint biography of the first and second woman to serve on the nation’s highest court is a gossipy, funny, sometimes infuriating and moving tale of two women so similar and yet so different.” — NPR
“Vital...Part of what makes Hirshman such a likable writer — in addition to her wit and ability to explain the law succinctly without dumbing it down — is her optimism.” — Washington Post
“Fast-paced and sure-footed...persuasive...Hirshman’s ability to write clearly about the law without oversimplifying enables her to explain how O’Connor played defense and Ginsburg offense.” — Huffington Post
“A lovely, thoughtful, and fascinating chronicle of [O’Connor and Ginzburg’s] careers and lives that doubles as a concise history of the fight for equality for women.” — SCOTUS blog
“Carefully researched and enjoyably written” — Wall Street Journal
For anyone interested in the court, women’s history or both, the story of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, their separate routes to the Supreme Court and what they accomplished during the more than 12 years they spent together is irresistible. — Linda Greenhouse, New York Times Book Review
“Linda Hirshman’s joint biography of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fascinating and informative but is also joyful — a stirring reminder of how these two pioneers for women’s rights have advanced the cause in their singular but complementary ways.” — Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Oath and The Nine
“A tale of two unfaltering women with steel-trap minds, their unlikely rapport, and the legal landscape they battle to reshape. Smart, startling, and profoundly moving.” — Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life
“Linda Hirshman has written a thorough, accurate, and most readable account of the careers of the two first women to serve as Justices of the Supreme Court. Laymen as well as lawyers will learn a great deal, not only about these two special people, but about today’s Court as well.” — Justice John Paul Stevens
“A riveting page-turner that will make you laugh, cry, and seethe with frustration at how long and hard the road to women’s equality has been. Above all, it will inspire and delight. A prodigious achievement and an important contribution to the history of our times.” — Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake
“This sharply-drawn double portrait of the first and second women on the U.S. Supreme Court and the way their lives and legal philosophies complement and contrast with each other is riveting. Linda Hirshman has the unique ability to think like a law professor and write like a journalist.” — Lynn Hecht Schafran, National Judicial Education Program, Legal Momentum
Linda Hirshman’s joint biography of the first and second woman to serve on the nation’s highest court is a gossipy, funny, sometimes infuriating and moving tale of two women so similar and yet so different.
Linda Hirshman’s joint biography of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fascinating and informative but is also joyful — a stirring reminder of how these two pioneers for women’s rights have advanced the cause in their singular but complementary ways.
For anyone interested in the court, women’s history or both, the story of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, their separate routes to the Supreme Court and what they accomplished during the more than 12 years they spent together is irresistible.
Fast-paced and sure-footed...persuasive...Hirshman’s ability to write clearly about the law without oversimplifying enables her to explain how O’Connor played defense and Ginsburg offense.
A tale of two unfaltering women with steel-trap minds, their unlikely rapport, and the legal landscape they battle to reshape. Smart, startling, and profoundly moving.
For anyone interested in the court, women’s history or both, the story of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, their separate routes to the Supreme Court and what they accomplished during the more than 12 years they spent together is irresistible.
Linda Hirshman has written a thorough, accurate, and most readable account of the careers of the two first women to serve as Justices of the Supreme Court. Laymen as well as lawyers will learn a great deal, not only about these two special people, but about today’s Court as well.
A lovely, thoughtful, and fascinating chronicle of [O’Connor and Ginzburg’s] careers and lives that doubles as a concise history of the fight for equality for women.
Carefully researched and enjoyably written
Vital...Part of what makes Hirshman such a likable writer — in addition to her wit and ability to explain the law succinctly without dumbing it down — is her optimism.
This sharply-drawn double portrait of the first and second women on the U.S. Supreme Court and the way their lives and legal philosophies complement and contrast with each other is riveting. Linda Hirshman has the unique ability to think like a law professor and write like a journalist.
A riveting page-turner that will make you laugh, cry, and seethe with frustration at how long and hard the road to women’s equality has been. Above all, it will inspire and delight. A prodigious achievement and an important contribution to the history of our times.
Vital...Part of what makes Hirshman such a likable writer — in addition to her wit and ability to explain the law succinctly without dumbing it down — is her optimism.
Carefully researched and enjoyably written
A smart, riveting read.
A smart, riveting read.
★ 08/01/2015
In addition to its clever title, this book offers an illuminating analysis of the ascent by Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the U.S. Supreme Court. A lawyer and women's studies scholar, Hirshman (Victory; A Woman's Guide to Law School) excels in portraying the enormous obstacles encountered by women attempting to enter the legal field. O'Connor and Ginsburg both attended top-tier law schools and graduated at the top of their respective classes. Nonetheless, both struggled to obtain their first professional jobs. Still, the women persisted and succeeded, despite the prevailing male-oriented culture. The two could not have been more different: O'Connor grew up on a ranch in the West, Ginsburg hailed from Brooklyn; O'Connor was a prominent Republican, Ginsburg was a card-carrying Democrat and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney who fought to advance the Equal Rights Amendment; O'Connor was a politician, while Ginsburg was a tactician and legal scholar. Nevertheless, both made history in shaping the law as we know it today. VERDICT This superb book unpacks the remarkable achievements of the first two female Supreme Court justices, "sisters in law," indeed. Perfect for readers relishing Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine. [See Prepub Alert, 3/30/15.]—Lynne Maxwell, West Virginia Univ. Coll. of Law Lib., Morgantown
One is Catholic, the other Jewish. One is from the open West, the other from teeming Brooklyn. One was a Reagan conservative, the other an FDR liberal. What these two influential justices were able to accomplish as the first and second women appointed to the Supreme Court goes beyond their differences and speaks to their commonalities. That’s what this fascinating audiobook is all about. Narrator Andrea Gallo’s engaging, open voice has a slight rasp but is eminently compelling and inviting. While she doesn’t have an elastic range, she does adjust her tone to capture the momentous nature of the decisions the Court made during the shared tenure of these two judicial leaders. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
2015-07-08
A dual biography of the pioneering jurists whose arrival on the Supreme Court both commemorated and invigorated the movement toward gender equality.Hirshman (Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, 2012, etc.), an attorney who has argued before the Supreme Court, counts herself among the countless beneficiaries of that trend, having in just a few short years gone from an outlier as a woman in the world of law to "a pretty normal player." It would be hard to find two people less alike than Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the one a conservative who grew up on a New Mexico ranch and entered politics with the Goldwater wing of the Republican Party, the other a liberal Democrat from Brooklyn who had been a feminist activist for years before attaining her seat at the bench. Yet both were also accomplished lawyers who broke into the profession "when there was not even a whisper of a women's legal movement," setting precedents that encouraged other women to follow. Hirshman notes what might seem to be detriments, from Ginsburg's occasional brittleness and possible legal missteps, such as suggesting that abortion should have been argued as a matter of women's equality in 1973—the author's reasoning on that count is subtle but generally convincing—to O'Connor's loyalty to William Rehnquist, who, after all, was an enemy of precisely the same attainments of civil rights for which O'Connor was in the vanguard. Yet both O'Connor and Ginsburg "recognized that women could use the law to pry open realms of life foreclosed to them by historical practices of exclusion," and they did just that. Hirshman goes on to examine not just their role in reforming the culture of the Supreme Court and the tenor of some aspects of the law, but also their work on specific issues such as affirmative action and sex discrimination. An intelligent, evenhanded look at a changing society and its legal foundations.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170383320 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2015 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 773,983 |
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