( 6 reviews )
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Posted: Dec 1 2007
As Spence promises on the cover, this book is about himself. You'll learn how Spence's mother's selfish suicide and religious overbearing nature have plagued him. Her death was a life-long sentence without a trial. It drove him to obsess over the innocence and justifiable mistakes of others.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 18 2007
It has been said that it takes a great deal of courage for a person to take both their private thoughts and sacred moments and put them down on paper for another person to read. This is what Gerry Spence has done with his autobiography, and he should be congratulated for doing so. Spence is renowned for his landmark victories in court, including the Karen Silkwood estate, The defense of Randy Weaver, and the acquittal of Imelda Marcos. This story is not about that chapter in Spence's life, it is about the life of the young man who became this lawyer. Spence spends a fair amount of time talking about personal intimate details of his youth that most people would prefer to forget about, let alone share with perfect strangers. For me, this is where Spence's courage deserves to be applauded. Spence now presents himself as a kind understanding gentleman who is capable of dealing respectfully will those from all walks of life -- one of the many reasons he is so successful at handling jury trails. To read his own story, this was not always the case. I have read other reviews of this book from people who were shocked to learn the details of this man's teenage, young adult, and middle adult years and seemed to hold it against him. To me, Spence is not ashamed, as he should not be, about the path his life has taken. He offers no apology, and does not owe us one. He simply describes in detail the story of the first half (approximately) of his life with insight as to how it created the Gerry Spence that we all now know and love. Some parts of the book to tend to get a little long and drawn out. This is simply Spence being Spence. He is never in a hurry to tell his stories and likes to let them meander. They are his stories and this one is about his life, so he should tell it his way. My final thoughts of this book are not so much about he book itself, but something that happen right after I finished it. I had read several of Spence's works in succession. This book was the last. Not long afterward I sat down one Saturday afternoon and send him an e-mail telling him what I had read and that I appreciated his writing and his work. I sent the mail not really expecting anything and took off for the gym. I came home a few hours later and found a reply in my Inbox from Gerry thanking me and telling me that I had made his day. It was nice to know that I was able to talk briefly with a renowned figure.
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Posted: Dec 13 2005
In the Making of a Country Lawyer, Spence delivers what most of those who write autobiographies avoid -- a critical, honest and, at times, humorous account of his growth from an awkward youth, to married man, and ultimately to a truly mature man. He is so honest and witty and provides such rich descriptions of his teenage years, his law school "education," and his first few trials that I would be cringing one moment and laughing out loud the next. So emotionally lost was Spence at different times that it appeared he could never find his way out of the abyss, nevermind reclaim the mountain top. It is more than an autobiography, it is the story of man so tormented with guilt and feelings of inadequacy that he's desperate to escape his own skin . . . until he meets his soulmate. It's the best autobiography I've ever read and perhaps Spence's best book.
