Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean by Micheal Erard.  I read this book about a month ago, and I believe it is now available in paperback with an update.

I thought it was an interesting book.  It traces the development and history of the verbal blunder.  I never really though about the history of “correct public oratory” and after reading this book I find most speeches I hear more entertaining.  Really the book helped me to be less critical of the actual performance, and to be more in tune with the difficulties speakers go through.

If you are interested in rhetoric, public speaking, or even enjoy criticizing other people for their spoken blunders: read this book.  You might change your actions towards others after you’re done with the book.

Last night I finished reading The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright¹. The book won awards from Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times Book Review for being one of the best books of 2006. The Looming Tower also won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007.

The book itself is a mesmerizing narrative that spans the better part of five decades, The Looming Tower details in an unprecedented narrative: the explosion of Islamic fundamentalism, the creation and rise of al-Qaeda, and the many intelligence failures that culminated in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Wright visualizes the creation and development Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri from, incompetent and idealistic soldiers hiding in Afghanistan, to leaders of the most successful international terrorist group in history. Besides al-Qaeda, Wright also follows the career of FBI counterterrorism chief John O’Neill as he uncovers the emerging danger from al-Qaeda, and attempts to hunt down the group’s leaders. The book is packed with new information and contains well researched historical perspectives. To date, The Looming Tower is the most comprehensive history of the events leading up to September 11.

The author, Lawrence Wright, is a graduate of Tulane University. After graduation he spent two years teaching at the American University² in Cairo, Egypt. Currently, Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker as well as a fellow at the Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Besides other nonfiction work, Wright has written a novel, God’s Favorite, and also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie The Siege.

I don’t have much to say about The Looming Tower, except that it was a superb read. Prior to reading the book, my knowledge of the origins and development of al-Qaeda was very limited. I was surprised by the long history that Wright recants in the book, but I understand why I was not aware of that history. All of this information and history was new to the American public when the book was first issued. The stories and history taking place in The Looming Tower happened half the world away, and was largely ignored by western culture. Before September 11, no one in America really cared what was happening on the other side of the globe. But ever since that day, the interest and importance of understanding world events has become much more clear. If you are at all interested in the current situation in the Middle East, or even want to know more about al-Qaeda’s history, you should definitely read Wright’s book. It was full of useful insight and information, which has helped me to better understand the struggle against international terrorism around the world.

Also if you are interested in the current state of Iraq, check out this prior post.

I just have a quick post to let people know about a book called Coach by Michael Lewis. It is a very short memoir about Lewis’s experiences playing baseball under his high school coach.

It turns out years after Lewis graduated, the baseball players and (especially) their parents have turned against this legendary coach. The parents do not like his coaching methods and have asked the school administration to fire him. Lewis thinks that the parents are being short sighted and do not understand how the coach helps his player’s become men. Lewis’s book blends his memories, and melds them with the current controversy. Lewis wonders if the current team really apprieciates this coach for what he does.

I think this book will ring true for a lot of people. I think anyone who participated in sports had a coach who made you work really hard. At the time, you don’t really like that coach because of that work, but as you gain perspective and reflect on those experiences, you begin to apprieciate them more and more. And I agree with Lewis that people need coaches like that in their lives. You should read this book. It gives you a chance to reflect on the coaches who have impacted your life.

Did anyone have a particularly memorable or important coach in their life? Anyone have any good stories?

There are many good books about legal writing and rhetoric, but Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges is one of the best I have read. Of course I was probably destined to reach that conclusion because the authors are two men whom I hold in high regard: Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner. Most books in this category don’t carry the impressive names that Making Your Case does, but there is more to this book than the names of a Supreme Court Justice and the editor of Black’s Legal Dictionary. The book is set up like most legal “nut shell” or horn books, where there are several chapters and sub-chapters with numbered points. The book mainly covers brief writing, and oral argument, but there is a small legal argument section at the beginning. Thrown in throughout the book are Scalia and Garner’s advice to young lawyers who are just beginning their practice. Make sure to glean the pages for these tidbits (I prefer to call them nuggets of wisdom), they are very telling of what works to persuade judges and what doesn’t.

Some of the best of Making Your Case‘s points (a quick sampling of a few points that peaked my interest — just a small taste of the contents) :

1. Outline Your Brief. I know it seems simple enough, but most lawyers (and especially law students) skip this step. The authors make their case that a well done outline of your brief is not only advantageous but necessary to your writing process.
2. Clarity, Clarity, Clarity. Writing a clear, and concise brief is the most important you should have for your brief. The authors said it best, “The clearer your arguments, the harder it will be for your opponent to mischaracterize them” (page 108).
3. “Formality bespeaks dignity.” When addressing judges or deciding whether or not to include a contraction in your brief, remember that some judges greatly value formality. So to be on the safe side, leave out the contractions and always address Judges in the correct way (check the local rules of the court on the titles of its judges) (page 118).
4. Avoid Acronyms. Enough said.
5. Say Thank you. Thank the court for paying attention to your arguments. Don’t over do it though. The authors say, a short “Thank you” is enough to end with. After that sit down.
6. Develop a reputation for excellence. Be very aware that you will probably frequent the same courts throughout your career. Because Judges (at least at the Federal level) are given life terms, you ought to bring your “A” game every time you appear before them (you appear through your brief as well as during your oral argument).

Making Your Case was clearly the best books on legal rhetoric I’ve read. It doesn’t go over formatting or CREAC, which I found enjoyable (which is also strangely refreshing – hearing about CREAC makes me want to vomit), but instead focuses on creating intelligent, respectful lawyers. The conversational tone in Making Your Case creates readable prose, which is much more than I can say for other books on this topic. The bottom line: If you are going to go to law school, or are in law school, this would be a good book to read. Its very informative with out being so detailed that it bores.

I purchased two new books today that I am eager to read. Both books are focused on the legal profession, specifically trying to help lawyers and law students understand how a judge thinks. I’ll post more on these two books as soon as I read them:

Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges by Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner hit book stores today. Or at least it was supposed to be on sale today. I had to visit and call several bookstores before I found a store with the book in stock. Either way after wandering around DC for a bit I was rewarded with the latest in a long line of book designed to help lawyer’s and law student’s writing. Having Scalia’s name on this book certainly gives it some influential power: having a Supreme Court Justice’s opinion on legal writing is clearly a huge selling point. I’ve just started the book and have found it very readable so far (much more so than other books in this genre) and as soon as I finish it I will post my thoughts.

How Judges Think by Richard A. Posner attempts to offer people a window into a judges mind. I do not know much about this book, so I’ll wait until I’ve read it to discuss it further. Posner is a very large figure in the legal world, especially in regards to Law and Economics. He currently sits on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Posner has already published over forty books, and I suspect this latest work will live up to his reputation.

More to follow on both of these books after I finish them.

• Giving Time – Helping a charity by working as a volunteer.
• Giving Money – Obvious.
• Giving Things – See Giving money in a non liquid state.
• Giving Experience – Helping schools by becoming a teacher during your retirement, passing down your learned skills and advice to people in need.

While most people understand “how” to give, having a manual listing many honored charities can be useful. Therefore the best audiences for this book include people who are interested in charitable organizations, people who work in Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), or people who want to give to charity but for some reason are distrustful (or unknowledgeable) of the process in general. The book reads mainly as two parts “who’s who in NGOs/Charities” and one part “Hillary helped here, there, and everywhere.” The fact that a large part of this book reads as a campaign piece for Hillary is really disappointing. I felt that the Hillary grandstanding in the book seemed intentional and contrived: that they appeared to be added to talk about Hillary, instead of occurring because of her natural proximity to Bill and his work. I think these passages will tend to deter/alienate some readers. Perhaps I’m reading too much into the book, but I felt that a book designed to encourage charitable giving using Bill Clinton’s experiences/contacts gained in the years after his presidency, doesn’t need to add to Hillary’s bid for the White House.

I have to say though, charitable giving is a very noble cause, and an increase in giving can only help society as a whole. Therefore any effort by prominent influential people attempting to encourage giving are welcome in my opinion. We need more wealthy people like Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet who get rid of their excessive wealth to aid those less fortunate than themselves. What is the point of having excess money, when it could be used to really help people? More people need to give, and more people need to realize that they do in fact have enough for themselves and have the ability to give. Everyone can give something to another person, you don’t need to be rich in money only rich in kindness and character.