A Civil Action

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant narrative and a fascinating story
Review: This is one of the saddest true stories and a terrific legal thriller, all combined in one. Jonathan Harr's book tells the story of Jan Schlichtmann, a showy Boston lawyer, and his case against W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods for allegedly causing waste to flow into the drinking water of Woburn, Massachusetts, which caused a leukemia cluster to occur.

This book, through Harr's superb narrative skills, manages to create emotions in the reader which many books in this genre cannot match. These families underwent great emotional and physical horrors, and I found myself feeling mad and frustrated at Schlichtmann, an attorney who is bright and hard-working, but who has NO concept of money, very little concern for his colleagues' well being, and, as a result, overspends on this case until virtually his and his firms' entire existence are repossessed. It also brings the reader into the world of the opposing lawyers, including Paul Facher, and William Cheeseman, and the judge in the case, Judge Walter Skinner, unique individuals all.

This is a work that is very technical is nature and might be more suited towards those with a familiarity with law, but even those without such knowledge (such as myself) will find it a fascinating and frustratingly good story.

Rating:
Summary: Who said non-fiction was boring?
Review: If there is a more professional word than "AWESOME" I would use it. The way it's written is so captivating that every now and then I have to remind myself that I'm reading about an actual case and everything is real, not just the suspense-thriller that it seems. It's fast and easy reading...(I finished it in about three days)...and this comes from a college student's point of view! Definitely worth a read. (I haven't seen the movie, but after reading this book I doubt it can get any better.)

Rating:
Summary: It's all about the book
Review: A Civil Action was a great book. I had to read it for a class, and I finished it in three days because I couldn't stop reading it! This book explores not only the typical witnesses in a case, but really focuses in on the lawyers. That gives it a most interesting twist. This book made me happy, solemn, extremely angry. And though you know who you're supposed to be rooting for, the fact that it covers so many angles makes you wonder exactly who the "good guys" are.

The movie sucked. I looked forward to watching it, and was sorely disappointed. There's no way it could have done it justice. John Travolta should NEVER have been cast as Jan.

Read the book. It's nothing less than awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond the Newspapers
Review: As a former resident of a town adjacent to Woburn, I read the unfolding story in the local and regional newspapers as it happened. Moreover, since my town and Woburn share the river (the Aberjona) next to the polution site, I followed the media's limited reporting of the story with interest and concern. Eventually, the story pretty much disapeared from the media, and even news of the final settlement seemed "ho-hum" to those not directly involved in the ordeal. Little did we know.

Mr. Harr's amazing narative goes far beyond what was reported in the media. The facts as reported in the newspapers could never match the drama in this book. Even though I knew the outcome of the actual court case, I was thoroughly engrossed by A Civil Action.

If you want sensationalistic journalism, pick up a supermarket tabloid. If you want a skimming of the facts, read your local newspaper. But for a remarkable book and a gem of a true story, read A Civil Action.

Rating:
Summary: a fascinating real life courtroom battle
Review: I thought this book was very interesting. I read through it very fast because it was so suspensful. The movie just doesn't do it justice! I like how the author spent so much time with the real people so he really did know everything that was going on!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Narrative Nonfiction
Review: I write, publish, and teach nonfiction writing, and I'm impressed by Harr's reporting and writing. I read it with particular interest because I spent five years embroiled in environmental litigation in the late 1980s. Much of what he reports sounds familiar to me and rings true. I grant him high credibility.

Harr does an outstanding job of marshalling the intricate details of complex, sustained litigation. He assembles all of these details in a narrative that never slackens. To the end, I was unsure of the outcome and impelled to keep reading to find out what happened next.

I recommend this book to anyone who is also drawn to the work of Tracy Kidder (a friend of Harr's and the person who first suggest to Harr that he look into the Woburn case).

Rating:
Summary: This Is Why I Love Nonfiction !
Review: Nothing is better than a really good true story, and this book qualifies. The hero/antihero, lawyer Jan Schlictmann, is larger than life. His good qualities, as well as his flaws, are magnified. I have also fought with a large chemical company regarding injury and employee benefits. They are as coldhearted and bottom-line as it is possible to be. It doesn't surprise me that they also operated with no conscience at all. But since they are so rich, they have bought the politicians, and are relatively immune from the just consequences of their immoral and amoral behavior. Only when the world's population wakes up and puts on the appropriate pressure will the large international corporations do what's right. Thank God for the Schlictmanns and their associates who are willing to risk self destruction in this important work. (And by the way, the ingratitude of some of the families was breathtaking!)

Rating:
Summary: Informative & disturbing; excellent but not escapist reading
Review: I just finished this book after a long day's read - I have to agree with other reviews that much of this information could have been found in a newspaper article, and that the characters are not always people we want to respect, but this is a true story. People who fight for good aren't always the kind of hero we want them to be. In reading this account, we are priviledged to get the story from an author who had access to most of the key players and issues as things happened. You can't get that from a newspaper story. Reading this wasn't the most fun I've had reading a novel, but I am glad I read it and found it well-written under the circumstances (namely, that it was a complicated issue with lots of minutiae and flawed but recognizable people). I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever been involved in the legal process as a juror and to anyone else curious about how the system really works.

Rating:
Summary: I've never read such a book that drags as much as this
Review: A Civil Action, although the true story itself is interesting, really did not need to be a 500 page book. I could have gotten the facts from an article in the newspaper or a magazine. I don't understand why such a boring book is considered to be so infamous. I couldn't even finish it and I was supposed to for a class. Two thumbs down.

Rating:
Summary: Dry - full of facts with 1-D characters
Review: The story itself was interesting, but the book was full of facts and had little character. I didn't respect Schlichtmann any more for risking his career and that of his partners for this difficult case. A tragedy, yes, but I could have gotten this factual information from a newspaper.