Rating: 
Summary: A good horror story, but not realistic
Review: As a lawyer who followed Turow into Harvard Law School's hallowed halls a decade later (I'm certain they raised the standards after I graduated), I found One L entertaining. Unlike Turow, though, I actually enjoyed my experience -- and I was not one of the top students. Aspiring law students should read Turow's book, but not take it too seriously. I think most 21st-century U.S. law schools -- including Harvard -- are more humane institutions than the place Turow describes. For those who have read One L, I highly recommend another book, Dead Hand Control. In fact, I'd go so far to say that novel should be required reading for anyone considering law as a career, especially if their only insight into law school is from One L. Dead Hand Control chronicles a second-year law student's journey through classes, interviews, and the law-firm environment. The author, Tim Stutler, is an attorney who attended Harvard as well as Boalt Hall (U.C. Berkeley). The law school experiences described in Stutler's book are much closer to my experience (and far more entertaining) than those in One L. Equally enlightening is the book's depiction of life after law school. I don't know if One L or Dead Hand Control will change anyone's decision to attend law school, but they certainly reveal little secrets of the profession never mentioned in law school brochures. That can't be a bad thing.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining...from a distance
Review: As someone about to embark on their first year of law school I read this - since it's on everyone's list and I've been told about it over and over. I suppose if you didn't know anything about law school it would be terrifying but if you have a little knowledge of the process you realize how outdated his account is. Which by the way is fine - it makes for an entertaining story - and it is a personal account. Thankfully it's not the dog eat dog world Turow portrays in the book - at least not where I am going to go to school.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story and makes you think
Review: I'm a second-year undergrad at UC Berkeley, and I thought that my plans for law school would be solid. Turow's book made me consider the costs (i.e. endless nights of studying and short but frequent shocks of depression) of a legal education. After reading the book I have my doubts but I'm still leaning towards law school, and now I have a better idea of what to expect.Turow's book brings the reality of a crazy first year environment filled with competition and fear. This experience was very similar (though not even close to the magnitude in Turow's world) when I first started school at Berkeley. I was intimidated by the wealth of knowledge in my peers and professors. However, as Turow argues, my peers and professors are just human too (with the exception with a few genuises here and there). Legal education has reformed over the past few decades but the rigors and challenges of law school admissions and graduation have remained about the same. The Law Review is still the most difficult and most prestigious group that any law school student could join. Grades matter less in the admission to the Law Review, but the writing competition is given higher scrutiny to compensate. I think that high school students and pre-law college students should read this book to prepare for the rigors of higher education and demistify the idea that everyone is smarter than you. We're all just human.
Rating:
Summary: "Turbulent first year" makes for a great book
Review: This book was intimidating. I would like to go to law school, but reconsidered after I read this book. However, it also excited me for the challenge of law school at the same time. If Scott Turow can make it through, why can't I? Right? I cannot yet say how accurate the book is, but I did enjoy it. I don't think much of Turow's advice will come in handy when I'm a One L, but I do think that it should be read by all those considering going to law school. Overall, this is a great read that kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I'll revise my review in a year after completing my first year of law school and report on how my "turbulent first year" was.
Rating:
Summary: Read it Today
Review: All I have is two words for Turow's work in One L: c'est magnifique Well perhaps I have a little more...to say... First I shall commence by mentioning that most will agree this text is far from literature intended to prepare you to begin legal studies. Instead, Turow stresses the very challenges one may possibly stumble upon as a first year law student, "1L." One L is not "true scholarship" per say, but is exceptionally informative and includes critical legal vocabulary that all first year law student ought to be aware of.
This work should be used for entertainment purposes and nothing further.
Rating:
Summary: not a how-to
Review: Plesae do not read this book and expect a how-to for law school. "Law School Confidential" would be my recommendation for that. This is an autobiography and a good one at that. I will be starting law school starting Fall '03, and I wanted a lighter book after all the LSAT prep guides and how to books I read. It was good story and an enjoyable read. Worth the bucks (or a trip to the library). BTW, the afterword was worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Unforntunate Letdown
Review: I read this prior to law school and found it boring, disappointing, discouraging, and woefully outdated (already?). I have read other books in prepartation for law school that one could better spend their time reading. The best thing about this book is that it gives one a little peak at what occurs to "normal" people when they are put through the intellectual meat-grinder of law school and come out the argumentative, cynical, grumpy people we call attorneys. It also paints a good picture (without expressly stating so) of how the absolute worst in human nature comes out in people in law school. I agree with another reviewer in that I expected great things and was quite dissappointed - especially since this book is so widely known and read.
Rating: 
Summary: Expected more
Review: Turow in One L makes a valiant effort to convey the rigors, stresses, and challenges of a first year law student at the prestigious Harvard Law School. He attempts to do this by divulging some of his diary entries from his time as a "One L." Although informative, Turow could have brought this story together in a more coherent and plausible manner. The story jumps around quite frequently from one idea to another. However, do not let this inconsistency in Turow's writing dissuade you from reding "One L." He provides the novice and inquisitive with a perspective into the mythos of Harvard Law. Bravo Mr. Turow!
Rating:
Summary: entertaining, but of little practical use
Review: This is a decent read, and lots of law schools have their students read it before they get to law school. But without some book that gives direct advice as to how to succeed in law school, the messages of this book will be of little use. Instead of spending time on the silly, philosophical books law schools tell students to read, get the practical books. They will do your soul the most long-term good.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, mild exaggeration, very outdated.
Review: This book, interesting as it may be, provides a semi-accurate view of law school's difficult first year. When reading this, keep in mind a few things. It was written quite some time ago, and things are not the same. Computers, for example, have changed a lot of the law school experience. Moreover, the work load is likely not 100% accurate. Not so much because that much is assigned, but the author is a bit of a work-a-holic and a total overachiever. All in all, an interesting and worthwhile read.
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