1998

One of my best nonfiction is A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr. This book presents a real life courtroom drama pitting one aspiring lawyer against a coterie of company lawyers. The case is about the accountability of two large companies who dumped toxic wastes that contaminated the water source of the nearby community. It led to the deaths of children who became sick with cancer after exposure to said pollution.

The ensuing protracted legal battle was very frustrating, nail-biting, dramatic, suspenseful, and engaging. It’s like a Grisham only with a better material, superior characterization, and moral grit. I cannot fully describe the book’s impact on me at the time I read it. I just remember that it made me both angry and hopeful. Angry about the extent to which powerful people will do everything to get around environmental laws, hopeful that there are decent people who will dedicate their lives to pursue environmental justice at all cost.

Perhaps you have seen the movie starring John Travolta? Avoid it. ( )

This is an involving story that is as gripping as a novel but it is more real, and insidious in that the tale of the inhabitants of this unfortunate town fell victim to corporate greed and irresponsibility. A civil action is an uncivil attempt by a corporation to hide and downplay the negative effects of polluting an average town in New England. The lesson to be drawn from this unfortunate episode is to grasp that it could happen to anyone, anywhere, if citizens are not vigilant about their rights and protect themselves.

Distributor/Publisher Synopsis: Based on a real story, “[t]he lawyer had not wanted the case at first -- it was too big, too complicated, too risky. It concerned a cluster of childhood leukemia victims in a small town north of Boston where the city wells had been poisoned by industrial chemicals. Two of the nation's largest corporations, stood accused... In this book, you'll meet the Harvard Law professor who told the lawyer that this case was worth a billion dollars, that it was the sort of lawsuit that would ring the alarm in corporate boardrooms across America. And you'll meet his adversaries, foremost among them a crafty old trial lawyer, chairman of the litigation department at one of the biggest and most feared law firms in Boston. The case turned into an epic struggle that took nine years of the lawyer's life. At the heart of the legal system, he was confronted by powerful and well-connected interests who would do anything to win. In the end, the struggle nearly cost the lawyer his sanity. He sacrificed everything -- home, friends, and reputation -- not for money, but for what he believed to be the truth.”

“A page-turner. Rich and vivid. . . eventful and gripping." --The New York Times

Well written, and extremely well researched. I couldn't put this book down! ( )

Pitch perfect illustration of the law in practice in all its beauty, mundane struggles, and the personal toll. ( )

I read this while camping on an island in Maine, and I could hardly tear myself away to look at the view! One of the most well-done non-fiction books I've read: written like a thriller, but so carefully researched that know you're not reading made-up conversations or imputed thoughts and feelings. Perfect pace; fascinating characters. ( )

3059 A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr (read 8 Mar 1998) (National Book Critics Circle nonfiction award for 1995) This tells of a suit in Federal Court in Boston against W. R. Grace and Beatrice Foods over events in Woburn, Mass. Jan Schlictman is the plaintiffs' attorney and he is a big-spending flamboyant lawyer (not high on my list of favorite figures) and yet I found myself very much on his side. Of course, the author spent his time with Schlictman, and presents the account with a pro-plaintiff slant. It involves pollution affecting city wells in Woburn. The attorney for the plaintiffs pretty much runs the show, with minimum input from his clients. The book is a fascinating look at the inside of a major trial, and it is all factual. This is one of the best courtroom non-fiction books I have ever read. ( )

Great description of the legal process and the pitfalls and block walls one can run into when dealing with the courts and opposing counsel. ( )

Insight into the world of big money lawsuits and the life of a lawyer who will give up everything to help a group of families affected by leukemia caused by chemical contamination. He is motivated by money, fame (to set a legal precedent) and compassion. ( )

read once before, saw the movie, intersting study of cancer causing pollution, sad but realistic ending, very good read ( )

true story about a civil action lawsuit, good. ( )

This book discusses the proceedings of a trial in the USA. The trial involves prosecution of a company that dumps toxic waste into a community near Boston. It is uncovered when a high rate of leukamia becomes evident over a couple of decades.

The book was overall a disappointment for me. I had expected a page-turning thriller, and felt it was rather too bogged down in legal-eze and detail to flow well.

The workings of the judicary system were interesting, and the expense and stress of defending a case such as this was very revealing. I liked the basis of the book, with the inevitable raised awareness of environmental issues and corporate greed that it illustrated, as well as the frustrated stale-mates that so often ensue in the court system.

However, still think the story could have been told in half the time and with much more punch if some minutae have been pruned out. The writer can spring a good turn of phrase, but it needed a good edit. I much preferred his book, 'The Lost Painting', although I felt that it too could have been slightly tighter in form. ( )

Smart, engaging, and well-written. It may seem overwhelming in length, but it goes quickly. If you're interested in legal matters intersecting with the environmental, or in environmental standards or creative nonfiction in general, I'd recommend this highly. ( )

Something is very much amiss in eastern Woburn - a small community in Massachusetts. The tap water tastes strange, like chemicals. Pipes corrode far too quickly, inhabitants suffer from burning eyes and skin problems. But worst of all - children are dying slowly and painfully of leukemia.

This rare disease has cropped up in several cases just doors away from one another. The families are ruined by medical bills and torn apart by grief. One such stricken mother begins a lonely crusade against the city and ultimately against two corporations to hold someone accountable for the suffering and death of her child.

But Woburn is a case no one wanted - expensive to put together and moreso to try. Without settled medical proof of the cuases of leukemia, it's a risky case too. A risky case, but with the possibility of a massive payout and important policy implications, which is just the kind of case Jan Schlichtmann thrives on. Schlichtmann's handling of the case with his brinksmanship, bravado, and relative inexperience, is the real focus of this non-fiction work.

Nonfiction generally isn't my cup of tea, but this was an exception. Written much like a thriller - with insight into the very human drama involved in the case - and as such rarely dry or boring, the author makes the story accessible without bogging it down with legalese or the finer geological points. He illuminates the workings of a trial, the greed and the injustices the system produces, and the emotions at stake, not just for the clients, but for the lawyers who invest so much of themselves in their cases.

Fascinating but devastating look at the justice system and how, in the end, no one gets what they want, and nothing is truly resolved. ( )

Legal case against big corporation causing cancer in poor town ( )

Investigative journalism. Courtroom drama. David and Goliath. All factual. A great read that was turned into a terrible movie. Read this book, then go burn the movie. ( )

A wow of a legal expose. Harr provides an incredible insight into our disturbing legal system in the face of clear, health-destroying pollution. This isn't just powerful journalism, it's special, a journalistic masterpiece. ( )

http://mchip00.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-me... ( )

A wonderful read overall, this book feels like a novel, though it is non-fiction. It was extremely well-written and kept my interest throughout. The outcome was slightly disappointing, though that is what actually happened. I'd definitely recommend this book though. ( )