SUPER THREATS: How to Sound Like a Lawyer and Get Your Rights on Your Own

A crash course in intimidation with an extra dollop of ""legalistic boilerplate language"" to throw around when you've been driven up the wall or out of pocket. Generally, this is of the same to-hell-with-the-experts ilk as David Hapgood's The Average Man Fights Back and pitched to the same people who buy do-it-yourself divorce kits. The demystification of law is the aim of lawyers Striker and Shapiro the ""detached, calculating and inexorable"" certified letter their weapon. With luck, it'll make court action unnecessary. The super-threat letter, the authors claim, can be used with startling effect to cower importunate creditors, get refunds from crooked merchants and flimflam artists, quiet noisy neighbors, and stop the phone company from shutting you off. You can even nail the charter flight outfit that left you holding the bag in Tanzania. Striker and Shapiro convey the rudiments of negligence law, false advertising, punitive and compensatory damages, and personal liability. Above all, no one receiving one of these letters will be likely to consider you a ""crank."" There are instances where Small Claims Court would have been a better alternative and others where a punch in the mouth seems more gratifying. Amusing--but marginally useful.