Rating: 
Summary: a good read, not a guidebook
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I feel like it gave me a rough idea of what to expect as a 1L, but I won't know for sure until I actually become one myself. For now, I would recommend it to anyone interested in going to law school but isn't really sure what your education will entail (as was my situation when I initially read the book). Since it was written so long ago and the author was pretty much commissioned to write it, I wouldn't take it as a true-to-life guide to being a 1L nowadays, although I'm sure a lot of experiences transcend schools and generations.
Rating:
Summary: A Peek Inside
Review: For someone like me, who is considering law school, this book is definitely a worthwhile "peek inside" the experience of law school, or at least the first year. Not being a law student I don't have anything to compare it to, but reading about Turow's experience and comparing to the experience of lawyer acquaintances makes it seem to hold a lot of truth. True, it's probably a bit dated, but it's a worthwhile read for anyone who's considering law school.
Rating:
Summary: Great drama - albeit outdated for current law school.
Review: I found the book to be interesting, if not a bit melodramatic, highlighting what "old school" was like at Harvard some 20+ years ago. The teaching methods vary between schools, and competition and teaching theories have definitely changed over the years. This book provides great shock value, but should not be used to scare a person away from attending law school.
Rating: 
Summary: Nobody ever said law school would be easy!
Review: Heard ONE L, the account by best-selling author Scott Turow
(PRESUMED INNOCENT, among others) of his first year at
Harvard Law School . . . although he was a student some
25 years before he wrote the book, it still gave me a gripping
account of what being a law student then was all about . . . and
though I've never attended law school, friends have told me
that much of his account still holds true; i.e., it is certainly not
an easy experience.I particularly enjoyed Turow's account of his various professors and
why he liked some--and detested authors . . . in the latter category,
he placed this one individual who had this to say on the first day
of class: It is the hardest course you'll take. . . . I am not an easy person.
I expect you to be here every day. . . . I expect you to be very
well prepared every day. I want to be absolutely clear on that. I
have never heard the word "pass." I do not know what unprepared
means. Now and then, there are personal problems. We all have these
at times, which will make full preparation impossible. If that is the
case, I then want a written note handed to my secretary at least
two hours before class. Now, personally, I'm not sure that I will ever go that far in addressing
my students at the beginning of the semester . . . yet that said, I
do like the one part about expecting students to be very well
prepared for each class . . . I might just incorporate that one
part into my opening remarks! Paul Rudd did an excellent job of narration.
Rating:
Summary: Law School Insider's Book
Review: I think this is an excellent book about law school. I can't vouch for its accuracy as I have not yet attended myself, but Turow does an excellent job of describing his anxieties, hard work, relationships and concerns about legal education. Turow writes very well and has an excellent eye for details, so the book is fun to read, but his honesty and personal insights are what really make this book memorable. I can not imagine the intensity and competitive nature of the classes, but I think it is valuble to know it exists and the worst of what I may want to be prepared for in law school. I don't know how contemporary the book is and the complaints that the book doesn't paint an accurate portrait of law school anymore are probably fair, but I think it is still worth the short time it takes to read. I think this would be an enjoyable and interesting book for people interested in education in general and particularly for people who are hoping to pursue a legal education.
Rating:
Summary: It's True!
Review: Simply because the events Mr. Turow relates may not happen across the board at most law schools today, does not negate the fact that his story is interesting, and at its core, presents the truth about the emotional highs and lows of most 1Ls. I am returning to law school as an evening student. I have raised two children, and worked as a research paralegal for 18 yrs. Nevertheless, I am more than a bit on edge about the "time" factor and the work load, not to mention the first set of exams. These issues were, are, and will remain universal, no matter the law school or the "kinder" professors. My son graduated from law school two years ago, and while no professor would dare to have pull the yarn that Turow's Contracts professor did, the pressure and arrogance was [and will always be] ever present. Turow is a beautiful writer, and a heck of a nice guy, as well. Read it kids, cuz it's true!
Rating:
Summary: If you are interested in law school...
Review: If you have gone to law school or want to go to law school this book is really fascinating. I plan on going to law school once I'm done with college, but if I wasn't, I cannot imagine reading this book just for the fun of it. This guy is no John Grisham but he does manage to write an thoroughly entertaining book out of what I previously thought would be a dry subject. But I was wrong and I was fascinated by the classes and studying habits of Mr. Turow. Once I picked it up, I did not set it down until I was finished reading it. I have no regrets in buying this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the happenings of law school.
Rating:
Summary: accurate view, that's for sure.
Review: I read this before starting law school, and thank God I did. While law school is not today what it was, Turow's depiction still holds true in many aspects, such as the socratic method of teaching, the stress surrounding exams, and while others do not agree with me, the competition. Anyone who is starting law school should read this book. Then as you finish your first year, you can breathe a sigh of relief that it was not quite as terrible as what it might have been, were law school still the way Turow describes it. It's a fast read, and very enjoyable, although not always comfortable.
Rating: 
Summary: Irrelevant
Review: In the seventies, this was probably a pretty good approximation of law school life. However, since then all but the Socratic method have changed. First, Turow came to law school from another career. Now, most law students come to law school straight from college, putting them in a different age group and with different interests than Turow has. Second, Turow was married in law school. This is a major, and perhaps the most important, difference between himself and the average law student. His marital problems relate almost exclusively to married people and not near as much to boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. The latter type of relationships are more fluid and would have been more likely to break up, but in a Turow's marriage the breakup of the marriage is never seriously contemplated. Also there aren't many boyfriend/girlfriends who would move to be with the other partner--it's almost exclusively spouses and fiances who make this kind of move. To some degree, Turow's marital problems related to his wife's move and adjustment to Boston, and this isn't something that most law students have to deal with. Additionally, because Turow is married, he doesn't deal at all with (a) the minefield of dating in law school, (b) having a long-distance relationship fall apart over the first year of law school, or (c) loneliness in a new environment. Almost every modern law student has to deal with at least one of these, and Turow covers none of them. Next, the racial and gender background against which Turow is writing has changed considerably. Top-tier law schools aren't populated with WASPs the way they were in Turow's time, and lower-level law schools are even more diverse. Now more than half of law students are women. Being a white male in law school is a totally different status now than it was thirty years ago. Even the structure of law school has changed since Turow was in it. Just in the last year, Harvard has joined a growing movement among law schools to put first-semester students in smaller sections in order to make the experience less impersonal. While I can't say Turow's enormous sections don't still exist, they're now almost always padded by school-sponsored, smaller group activities to facilitate bonding among students. In Turow's day, it was well-nigh impossible for a first-year, even from a top-tier school, to get a summer job at a firm. Now, however, the chances of first-years having such a job are much more likely, and fall of first-year is often a frenzy of learning how to do a mail-merge, updating resumes, typing addresses, etc. etc. in the push to get applications for summer jobs out by Dec. 1. The winter break for top-tier first-years is often filled with job interviews, especially in smaller markets. Turow, of course, doesn't cover any of this. In Turow's time, law review admissions were determined almost entirely by grades, at pretty much every law school in America. Now, however, many law schools are moving to a dual system, whereby students can either "grade-on", making the law review by having top grades, or "test-on", making the law review by acing an editing test. Since Turow didn't have the option of taking an editing test, he naturally doesn't go into the fit of studying that most first-years now go into in the spring as they try to influence their own destinies, instead of simply submitting their destinies to the Grade Gods.
Overall, I don't think this book is worth reading at all, I have no idea why people told me to read it before law school, and I wish someone would write a book that's relevant to law students' lives NOW. Maybe I will. If you must read something to help you understand what the first year is like before the first year, read "Law School Confidential."
Rating:
Summary: A must read for any law or graduate student
Review: I finished ONE L in one day, and was quite impressed. I've never read any of Turow's books; however, we do have something in common, I'm in a rough and tumble school as well--obtaining a PhD. Turow writes with candor and honesty. He describes in detail his life as a first year student, and what he thinks of the entire daunting situation of being a Harvard law student. Harvard is by far one of the top schools of law, and the sheer mention of it sends chills down the spine. Scott takes you through his first year, and the trials, tribulations and emotional stress that being a law student can inflict upon even the most intelligent person. Being a graduate student myself, I've had similar thoughts and feelings as Scott. As I made my way through the book, I had the distinct feeling that Scott was holding some feelings back--probably to protect the institution or other students, but he explains in great detail many of the feelings that overtake him in his arduous journey through the first year of Harvard Law. I don't care what college you attend, or if you attend college at all, buy this book and grab a cup of your favorite coffee; sit back and prepare to be captivated by the power of Harvard Law. If you expect a blueprint for admission into Harvard Law, or cliff notes on how to master the first year, you will be disappointed.
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