My Own Words

This collection of Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg’s writings, spanning 70 years, is an excellent introduction to this Renaissance woman and will whet readers’ appetites for her forthcoming biography by coauthors Hartnett and Williams. No one will be surprised that it contains cogent, well-reasoned, and accessible entries on subjects of general interest, such as equal rights for women and judicial independence. Even those who have followed the octogenarian jurist over her long and distinguished tenure on the Supreme Court will find plenty of less expected items to relish, including an editorial Ginsburg wrote as an eighth grader in 1946 for her Brooklyn elementary school newspaper on the importance of the new U.N. Charter. Her passion for operas is expressed in remarks she made on the radio in 2015, analyzing how law and lawyers have been portrayed in them. At a time of bitter political partisanship, her respect and affection for colleagues with different views, as displayed in posthumous tributes to fellow justices Rehnquist and Scalia, are very welcome. The variety of subjects is impressive, and Ginsburg’s gift for concision enables her to discuss them in enough detail to engage interest while leaving the reader wanting more. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (Oct.)