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One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
One L The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School
Author: Scott Turow
One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school introduces and a best-seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it brings alive the anxiety and co...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780446351706
ISBN-10: 0446351709
Publication Date: 5/1/1988
Rating:
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 37

3.2 stars, based on 37 ratings
Publisher: Warner Books
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
OK Gang, I read this book as a bright eyed soon to be law student prior to my first year of law school. Firstly, I have little credence in one who "claims" to have "aced" the LSAT. Secondly, although Turow seems to write about a hellish first year, I wish to point out, "How bad can it be, if he had time to have a wife, go to law school full time, AND write a book?" It simply is not a realistic view of what life as a first year law student at a top law school is like. My own experiences included classmates committing suicide for not being ranked #1 in their class for the first time in their lives. It also included classmates who quit the very first time they got humiliated by a law professor during a lecture. My own experience my first year was of the fear of falling behind, and playing catch-up for a semester. I was in the library by 8 AM, class at 9AM, and went home about 11PM, for the full 3 years, often with hundreds of pages to read an analyze nightly. How someone managed to write a book amidst all that madness is clearly beyond me. The only rationale I could come up with is that Harvard does not give grades in its classes; there is no student competition - your grade is either "Pass" or "Not Pass". I'd suggest doing some research on what it is to have to compete with fellow students for grades, and look at law schools where your notebook computer is stolen for the mere sin of getting up to go to the bathroom.
donutgirl avatar reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on
Helpful Score: 4
I read this after surviving my first semester of law school and found it to be true in every detail! A must-read for every prospective law student.
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on
Helpful Score: 3
Turow gives an amusing and true-to-life account of his life as a 1L at Harvard in the 70s. Although law school has since changed somewhat, many of the aspects discussed are still easily related to by current and incoming students.
AJones avatar reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 21 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
My interest in reading this was sparked by how much I enjoy Turow's novels and by how much I respect his pro bono work on behalf of those wrongfully imprisoned. Had I not read his other works or known about his social philosophy, I probably would not have appreciated this autobiography quite as much a I did.
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 134 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
classic autobiography of Scot Turow's first year at Harvard Law School.
Read All 17 Book Reviews of "One L The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School"

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buzzby avatar reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 6062 more book reviews
I found his experiences in the first year of law school were pretty close to mine, even though I was at a slightly less competitive school.
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 108 more book reviews
Becoming a first-year Law student a "One-L" at Harvard Law School. what life is like for a typical student - An excellent report from the Graduate school battlefield and from the heart.
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 35 more book reviews
This book is usually included on the reading list for beginning law students. It's definitely worth a read to see what some students at extremely competitive schools do to themselves and each other. Although many students find the experience of law school to be more supportive and less traumatic than Turow's, his descriptions of the coursework (including the blistering reading requirements), the socratic and exam methods, and school organization are very accurate, even 30 years later.
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on
Excellent book, even for the non-lawyer types. I've enjoyed reading Turow's novels for a long time, so it was very interesting to see this side of him.
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 158 more book reviews
"A compelling and important book...it should be read by anyone who has ever contemplated going to Law School or anyone who has ever worrieds about being human." New York Times
reviewed One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School on + 13 more book reviews
It was a great book about the life of a law student at Harvard Law School. I found it to be interesting.


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