Synopses & Reviews
Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of the most important and secret legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, and reveals the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land.
Just in time for the 2008 presidential election where the future of the Court will be at stake Toobin reveals an institution at a moment of transition, when decades of conservative disgust with the Court have finally produced a conservative majority, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, presidential power, and church-state relations.
Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities from Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas's well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter's odd nineteenth-century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore and Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office.
The Nine is the book bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin was born to write. A CNN senior legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer, no one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.
Review
"This is a remarkable, riveting book. So great are Toobin's narrative skills that both the justices and their inner world are brought vividly to life." Doris Kearns Goodwin
Review
"Driven by the author's assured narrative voice, The Nine is as informative as it is fascinating, as insightful as it is readable." Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Review
"[A] fascinating inside look at the most secretive branch of government. Toobin writes beautifully, and the book is impossible to put down." Seattle Times
Review
"Readers who share the author's left-of-center outlook will likely delight in Toobin's account. Others, looking for a more nuanced, politically neutral analysis may have to search elsewhere." Christian Science Monitor
Review
"The Nine profiles the often quirky justices that make up the members of our most recent Supreme Court. Toobin's access to the Supremes and to their secret little world is phenomenal." Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"Based on interviews with some of the justices and about 75 of their former clerks, The Nine is anecdotally rich and clearly written." USA Today
About the Author
Jeffrey Toobin is the author of such bestsellers as Too Close to Call, A Vast Conspiracy, and The Run of His Life. He lives with his family in New York City.