Product Description

This explosive word-of-mouth bestseller is now revised to include exclusive material on the shoot-out at Ruby Ridge and the trial of Randy Weaver. Gerry Spence is the Wyoming lawyer who won the Weaver case. Spence's trials also include the Karen Silkwood case. His books include How to Argue and Win Every Time and Of Murder and Madness. Photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #241332 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Noted Wyoming trial lawyer Spence ( Gunning for Justice ) is a veteran rhetorician, but this "collection for free-floating thoughts about freedom" lacks organization and offers only scattered sustenance. He muses about governmental abuses of power as well as about the tyranny of fear, of poverty, of viewpoint and of work, and makes the dubious point that freedom itself is a form of tyranny: "It requires that we be alive, alert, exquisitely aware of our raw being." A foe of "inherently evil" corporations, Spence proposes an intriguing reform: each corporation should seat ordinary people on its board as "conscience members." He then meanders into imaginary dialogues about the sanctity of the environment, cites Native American wisdom to attack sexism and makes tart observations on corporate control of the media. Spence's chapters sound more like impassioned court statements than well-structured arguments. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
From virtuoso trial-lawyer Spence, defender of Karen Silkwood and Imelda Marcos: a fiery ``collection of free-floating thoughts about freedom.'' Spence is profoundly uncomfortable with the socioeconomic interdependence caused by our complex economy. Seeing serfdom everywhere in ordinary American life--in employment, religion, the media, home mortgages--he recognizes that freedom is a burden, and that people often enter into imprisoning relationships, jobs, and commitments in order to escape the loneliness and want that accompany unalloyed freedom. In traditional American populist fashion, he denounces corporate America and government bureaucracy each as a ``New King'' that has ruthlessly despoiled the environment while enslaving the people. Spence decries the ``breathing dead''--virtually anyone who cooperates with the materialism of our society, whether as a corporate employee, a homeowner, a consumer, or as a member of the media audience--and he deplores not just external tyrannies but also what he considers tyrannies of mind and soul: TV-generated consumerism and violence (``[We] comport ourselves like lumpen slobs drooling at the trough where we are slopped like anthropomorphic hogs with the vacuous fare corporate America throws at us''; religious traditions (``cages of the mind''); and convention. The author condemns the poverty of much of society, as well as the domination of our national power structure by males, and he proudly displays his own concept of freedom by dubbing himself a ``tree-hugger'' and imagining a dialogue with a trial judge in which Spence argues that trees have rights like human beings. Finally, Spence lyrically celebrates the ``kingdom of the self''--a realm in which, he says, individuals have the power to liberate themselves. Spence--courageous and individualistic in the best American tradition--scores some eloquent points (he's at his most fluent when writing about his beloved American West and its people); but, mostly, he exhorts with the sort of angry rhetoric that might move a jury but that often falls flat on the page. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Customer Reviews

Deconstructing America's False Reality
This is a book that will change your outlook on life in America. It is the plea of one man, crying out against the sytematic infiltration of corporate power and greed into every area of life. In this courageous work, Gerry Spence takes on what he calls, the "oligarchical" power of the corporate world, exposing its manipulation of even our most personal beliefs. On issues from the environment, police brutality, polital corruption and homelessness, to the dominating influence that this power has on the individual level, he leaves no stone unturned in his search for justice in America. Anyone who is interested in the social problems of our country will find this book a great source of knowledge, insight, and even outrage. This book simply asks the reader to look at American society as it is, not as it was taught to many of us in public school, and then think about how these problems can be overcome.

Find out why US corporations do NOT want Gerry to air this
This is my 2nd book by Gerry Spence. I am changing my views & opinions about our so-called "legal system", about lawyers, about political parties. As the song says, "I've quit those days & my redneck ways". Gerry is likely a liberal & I'm a conservative yet I agree with 90% of what he brings out. I prefer learning from someone with real-world experience instead of theoretical academia which I have discovered is out-of-touch with reality in my 56 years: that is; professors commenting on other professors commenting on other professors.

In my time, I've always known something was seriously wrong with our great country but couldn't put my finger on it. Like most folks, I thought it was those "blood sucking parasite politicians". With facts (not opinion) and specific cases (not speculation), Gerry shows this euphoric bubble we are all in -- that we THINK is "democracy". It's not good enough to wrap ourselves in the American flag and say "at least we're better than Angola". We love our constitution and bill-of-rights unfortunately now, America is not "of, for, & by the people" except on 4th of July and during election time.

Like a cruise missile that homes in on its target, Gerry clearly pinpoints the issues, draws contrasts, and offers solutions (which we thought were just "political").

Okay, we have GROWN UP and we're big boys & girls: we need to also WISE UP and stop trashing folks because we disagree with them 10% of the time. The only person you will be in agreement with 100% is yourself - and I've discovered that people's "assumer" is wrong 90% of the time.

This book is of mature subject so if you're seeking "rainbows in the sky & children singing in the fields", then go look at the Sunday comic section.

hits the heart, soul and mind
If anyone is going into law, they need to read this book. If anyone cares about justice, they need to read this book. If good writing and profound insight means anything to you, read this book. It's impossible not to be inspired by Gerry's honesty and courage and hope. Of all the books I have read to date by Gerry (Making of a Country Lawyer, Give Me Liberty, How To Argue and Win) - and they are all good - I still think Freedom To Slavery is the best. Great to read. You'll want to change the world (again).