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LOOK TO YOUR LEFT

A TRUE STORY OF LAW SCHOOL SURVIVAL IN THE FACE OF IMPOSSIBILITY, MURDER AND AN APPALACHIAN APOCALYPSE

An engaging story of success, as told by a man who refused to quit.

A debut work of creative nonfiction about the daunting challenges of higher education and the power of perseverance.

Law school is infamously challenging, and Burnside’s experience was no exception. In the fall of 2002, he matriculated into the Appalachian State Law School in rural Virginia, an unheralded institution that hadn’t even officially received its accreditation at the time. Burnside had unfortunately scored low on his LSAT, though, and so he wasn’t exactly a hotly recruited candidate. His first semester was, to put it mildly, inauspicious; his grades were so low that he narrowly missed expulsion and landed precariously on academic probation. Instead of surrendering to unhappy odds, though, the author experienced a conversion of sorts and decided to apply himself to his studies with renewed vigor. He broke up with his beautiful girlfriend, lost many of his other friends, devoted himself unreservedly to his course work, and slowly started to show improvement. He also encountered many obstacles, some of them shocking. A disgruntled student with a gun, for example, showed up on campus and started shooting, murdering the dean and a professor before he was tackled to the ground. An errant mountain blast forced Burnside to vacate his apartment, causing him to find a quiet refuge for study at a Comfort Inn. Even poison ivy hobbled him. It’s no surprise that the author frequently employs the metaphor of war to describe his tormented attempt at reform: “My Appalachian War continued—and I knew exactly where my enemy was.” Readers will know the cheerful outcome from the beginning: Burnside becomes a licensed lawyer in two states and has a successful career as an attorney. This takes the suspense out of the tale but not its principal power as an account of indomitability in the face of adversity. The prose is informal and unpretentious and will keep readers engaged throughout. Some of the story, the author confesses, is fictionalized, including “much of the dialog and some of the characters,” which is an odd choice, given how dramatic the unvarnished truth is on its own. Nonetheless, this will be an inspirational tale for lawyers and nonlawyers alike.

An engaging story of success, as told by a man who refused to quit.

Pub Date: May 8, 2015

ISBN: 978-0986423802

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Cincinnati Book Publishing

Review Posted Online: May 16, 2015

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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