An insider’s view of a controversial trial with effects that still reverberate.
Former criminal defense attorney Bailey gives an immodest account of his role in helping to acquit his “totally innocent” client O.J. Simpson in the “Trial of the Century.”
A 2015 poll, taken 20 years after Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, found that most Americans believed he was “definitely” or “probably” guilty. Few are likely to change their minds after reading this vigorous but unconvincing argument that a timeline for the murders shows that Simpson had “no realistic opportunity” to commit them. Nor are readers likely to be swayed by the author’s claims that the case was marred by “sloppy police work” (a phrase used four times in the narrative) and other flaws amply documented by others. Bailey offers no compelling evidence that anyone except Simpson might have committed the crimes. He pays only lip service to chief defense counsel Johnnie Cochran’s idea that the killers were two “irate drug dealers” who, angered by an unpaid debt of a guest of Nicole’s, targeted the wrong people—and who may be conveniently beyond the reach of subpoenas since the author has heard they were “executed by the mob for their calamitous mistake in murdering two innocent victims in error.” Given such gaps, this book will appeal mainly to O.J. completists, especially those interested in turf wars on a legal dream team–turned-nightmare as seen by a general who isn’t too modest to flaunt his stripes. (Bailey notes that when Simpson raised the possibility of hiring the flamboyant lawyer Gerry Spence, the defense team’s Robert Shapiro said, “We’ve got the best, Lee Bailey. Why would you want to downgrade?”) As for Simpson’s culpability, William C. Dear offers a more credible argument in O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It, which suggests that a more plausible perpetrator was Simpson’s oldest son, Jason, a potential suspect Bailey doesn’t discuss.
An insider’s view of a controversial trial with effects that still reverberate.Pub Date: June 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5107-6584-9
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.
The iconic model tells the story of her eventful life.
According to the acknowledgments, this memoir started as "a fifty-page poem and then grew into hundreds of pages of…more poetry." Readers will be glad that Anderson eventually turned to writing prose, since the well-told anecdotes and memorable character sketches are what make it a page-turner. The poetry (more accurately described as italicized notes-to-self with line breaks) remains strewn liberally through the pages, often summarizing the takeaway or the emotional impact of the events described: "I was / and still am / an exceptionally / easy target. / And, / I'm proud of that." This way of expressing herself is part of who she is, formed partly by her passion for Anaïs Nin and other writers; she is a serious maven of literature and the arts. The narrative gets off to a good start with Anderson’s nostalgic memories of her childhood in coastal Vancouver, raised by very young, very wild, and not very competent parents. Here and throughout the book, the author displays a remarkable lack of anger. She has faced abuse and mistreatment of many kinds over the decades, but she touches on the most appalling passages lightly—though not so lightly you don't feel the torment of the media attention on the events leading up to her divorce from Tommy Lee. Her trip to the pages of Playboy, which involved an escape from a violent fiance and sneaking across the border, is one of many jaw-dropping stories. In one interesting passage, Julian Assange's mother counsels Anderson to desexualize her image in order to be taken more seriously as an activist. She decided that “it was too late to turn back now”—that sexy is an inalienable part of who she is. Throughout her account of this kooky, messed-up, enviable, and often thrilling life, her humility (her sons "are true miracles, considering the gene pool") never fails her.
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780063226562
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
