JUDICIAL INDISCRETION: The Double Life of Judge William John Beer

by James Whitfield Ellison ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 1987

The indiscretion is bigamy: for over 30 years, Michigan's Judge Beer divided his time between two sets of wife and kids living ten miles apart. Regrettably, in this authorized biography built from extensive interviews with the principals, the Judge's double life receives a singularly flat (and biased) rendering from Ellison, who in past years has proven a fair-to-middling novelist (Descent, Summer After the War, Proud Rachel, Buddies). Ellison seems to sleepwalk through this book from the start, where his juiceless description of Judge Beer waking up in one household (""He padded. . .into the bathroom where his bath had already been drawn and was steaming hot. He sighed with satisfaction. He loved baths""), then sneaking a phone call to his other family, induces yawns rather than shocks. And although the subsequent flashbacks fail to quicken the pace--even when, after three kids and 15 years with wife Dora, a 40-ish Beer falls for and impregnates his teen-age assistant, Barbara--Ellison's thinly veiled admiration for the Judge never flags. From his introducing Beer as wearing a dark suit that ""belied his good humor, the ruddiness of his complexion, and the dancing light of his eyes,"" Ellison offers scant criticism, and much subtle praise, of a man who found divorce unthinkable, abortion too, so came to an unusual solution: marry both women! And that's just what Beer did, secretly wedding a knowing Barbara and siring eight more kids by her--and, we are told, working round the clock to support both families. It is indeed a testament to Beer that when the secret finally came out (via a US Navy check on one daughter), most members of both families kept up loving relations with him. But before Ellison ends this tale on an upbeat note (the Judge cooing with Barbara), he pays a nod, albeit rudely short, to Dora--lied to for over 30 years--who divorced the Judge as soon as she learned the bitter truth. Less a thoughtful exposition than a thin apology: despite its potentially fascinating subject, this is dull stuff--and third-rate journalism.

Pub Date: July 21, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION