The Making of a Country Lawyer

Rating:
Summary: What's behind the curtain?
Review: Although I found this book to be interesting, I still feel it lacked something. Spence tells us of his growing up, his reason for becoming a lawyer, and the trials and tribulations in life. All well and good, but what isn't he telling us? If you over look the fact that one man cannot be this great (at least I don't think so)then the book will give you some insight into his world. The review of his cases are fasinating, and there is no argue from me that he is a fantastic Attorney. Overall an enjoyable book.

Rating:
Summary: What's behind the curtain?
Review: Although I found this book to be interesting, I still feel it lacked something. Spence tells us of his growing up, his reason for becoming a lawyer, and the trials and tribulations in life. All well and good, but what isn't he telling us? If you over look the fact that one man cannot be this great (at least I don't think so)then the book will give you some insight into his world. The review of his cases are fasinating, and there is no argue from me that he is a fantastic Attorney. Overall an enjoyable book.

Rating:
Summary: Frank and credible autobiographical romp
Review: From the perspective of an older 2L law student, Spence represents the attorney many of us aspire to become; few, however, would be prepared to ride the rough road so candidly revealed in this study of a an oddessy laced with hypocrisy, courage, gallantry, cowardice, dispair, introspection, brilliance, and soul searching. Spence is one who has experience a full measure of living. While wiser now and in the hot light of celebrity, one cannot help but pity those he alienated along the way, which by his own admission was practically everyone in Riverton, WY. Still, seeing his commentary on cable, and having read what made him who he is, the enlightened Spence, minus the demons that haunted him for so long, still seems a paradox: folksy, yet cunning, humane, but as yet untamed, compassionate, yet still possessing the hunter's instnct. An interesting life emerges from these pages put in frank, sometimes self-deprecating terms that allows for a credible and surprisingly humble autobiographical romp,

Rating:
Summary: it would be wise to stick to the little guy and not oneself
Review: Gerry spence is a slow talking and reserved attorney turned celebrity. Too bad he does not focus his talents on death row inmates in need of adequate defense. Mr. Spence, it is time to save the lives the nation is so horrifyingly attemting (and succeeding I might add)to snuff out. In a land where murder turned law is a sign of the times, someone with vision needs to be visible. You should welcome a clean concious as much as you welcome media attention. I don't care about O.J. Simpson, but I do care about those tortured in awaiting shameless public execution. The mob is on the rise, Mr. Spence, the innocent are the damned. One cannot know the true love of a woman without knowing true love for ones fellow man. Don't retire yet, Mr. Spence. Dazzle the law with your brilliance at the helm of this corrupt yet salvageable system. Save lives.

Rating:
Summary: Spence's Roots
Review: Gerry Spence's books have all been favorites of mine and I always enjoy his commentary and personna. This bio is written in his usual compelling style and I loved hearing about his childhood, family and the experiences that helped mold him into the remarkable man he became. Definitely worth the time invested to read this book and I recommend all of his books to anyone interested in the complexities of the legal system in this country.

Rating:
Summary: Spence's Roots
Review: Gerry Spence's books have all been favorites of mine and I always enjoy his commentary and personna. This bio is written in his usual compelling style and I loved hearing about his childhood, family and the experiences that helped mold him into the remarkable man he became. Definitely worth the time invested to read this book and I recommend all of his books to anyone interested in the complexities of the legal system in this country.

Rating:
Summary: A personal, frank & moving story.
Review: I enjoy biographies and dislike most lawyers. This book caught my eye and since I had seen Mr. Spence on TV many times I checked it out of the library. I had been somewhat put off by his fringed jacket-Wyoming-cowboy persona and was prepared to dislike this book; now I can't wait to read the rest of his oeuvre. Mr. Spence shares the most intimate details of his life,including the reasons for his choice of wardrobe. His story is a fascinating one and it is told with both charm and passion. I enjoyed his descriptions of his early years hunting and working on his family's farms, evoking a vanishing America, or at least one that few of us will ever know or know anything about. He writes of the most important incident of his life, his mother's suicide, and how he finally broke the crippling bonds of guilt that tortured him for years, without self pity and with great literary skill. I salute him for sharing his story with us in such a moving and thoughtful way

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Trial Lawyers of All Time
Review: I liked the book very much because I am intrigued by courtrooms and defense lawyers. But I also found the man in a seminar to be engaging, quick, wise, honest. He may act like a country lawyer, but Spence is one of America's finest attorneys. His story reminds me of Horatio Alger and "From Rages to Riches." A product of the West, he walks easily in the most erudite arenas and writes as exquisitely as he speaks. So much wisdom, information, understanding, sensitivity to the lesser ones of us. Kudos, Gerry.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Trial Lawyers of All Time
Review: I liked the book very much because I am intrigued by courtrooms and defense lawyers. But I also found the man in a seminar to be engaging, quick, wise, honest. He may act like a country lawyer, but Spence is one of America's finest attorneys. His story reminds me of Horatio Alger and "From Rages to Riches." A product of the West, he walks easily in the most erudite arenas and writes as exquisitely as he speaks. So much wisdom, information, understanding, sensitivity to the lesser ones of us. Kudos, Gerry.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but lawyers should see Comon Sense Rules of Advocacy
Review: Next to "The Paper Chase",I found Gerry Spence's autobiography to be extremely inspirational, and yet, this time he offered wisdom for the rest of us who do not take up the law. One reviewer missed the point about "country lawyer"(the common man), trying to weaken Spence's building diatribe against corporate America. His vivid, meticulous storytelling ranges as wide as the landscape of his upbringing, where Horatio Alger meets Franklin and finishes with Thomas Paine. In other words, he offers hope for the little guy, the citizen, if men of his cloth would abandon their ways and the rest of us would stop acting like lemmings. This captivating, truth-telling journey to adulthood, runs from the depression to the consumptive new millenium. His many Lincolnian lessons throughout make it a deservedly classic manual for the under-taught. Spence proves Darwin wrong. It's not the fittest, the prepared truth-seekers.