The Nine

Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

By: Jeffrey Toobin

Narrated by: Don Leslie

Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of the Supreme Court and reveals the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land. Just in time for the 2008 presidential election - where the future of the Court will be at stake - Toobin reveals an institution at a moment of transition, when decades of conservative disgust with the Court have finally produced a conservative majority, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, presidential power, and church-state relations.

Based on exclusive interviews with the justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities - from Anthony Kennedy’s overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas’s well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter’s odd 19th century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore - and Sandra Day O’Connor’s fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office.

The Nine is the book Toobin was born to write. He is a best-selling author, a CNN senior legal analyst, and New Yorker staff writer. No one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.

©2007 Jeffrey Toobin (P)2007 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"A major achievement, lucid and probing." (Bob Woodward)

"This is a remarkable, riveting book. So great are Toobin's narrative skills that both the justices and their inner world are brought vividly to life." (Doris Kearns Goodwin)

"Absorbing....[Toobin's] savvy account puts the supposedly cloistered Court right in the thick of American life." (Publishers Weekly)

Interesting book but

Would you try another book from Jeffrey Toobin and/or Don Leslie?

too bad Mr Toobin's bias was so apparent.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jeffrey Toobin? Why or why not?

No, if all his books are so slanted to the left.

Have you listened to any of Don Leslie’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I do not know but the performance was just fine.

Did The Nine inspire you to do anything?

Yes, research the author before buying the book. lol

Any additional comments?

No, but thanks for asking.

Very interesting!

My husband and I both enjoyed this book.
Thought I knew a lot but learned much about the personalities, politics and workings of the Supreme Court.

One of my favorites

An incredible view into one of the foundational processes of American government, politics, and law. Mr. Toobin's analysis and evaluation of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court is incredible. I read it for the first time in law school and listen to it every year or so because of its great insights into the challenge of practicing law in a thoughtful, careful, and diligent way. If you enjoy politics, then this book is all the more interesting, as it is very much a description of "how we got to today."

Rambling and ultimately not very revealing

Most good books, whether fiction or non-fiction, define their time frame. This book doesn't, so there is only a modicum of historic reference to the court, and then some People Magazine-style vignettes about the justices themselves. The narrative jumps back and forth between the 50's and now, with no obvious structure.

The writing, however, is good, and there are some things to be learned about the Court in this book. If I had it to do again, considering all there is to read in the world, I would have skipped this one for something more substantial.

Great book, depressing tale

THis book is well constructed, it is suspenseful and gives enough personal insight in addition to the bare bones of legal issues needed to understand the major areas of dispute in US supreme court rulings over the last fifty years.

THe narrator is strong, the writing draws you in, but ultimately the status of the court is both depressing and disheartening. I saw Justice Scalia swagger across the screen on SIXTY MINUTES last week and almost wept at his arrogant unwillingness to admit he is a political hack with no shame or sense of honor.Leslie Stahl licked his feet. I felt lost in a circus tent. I was glad I had read the book so I could put Scalia's lies into context but I certainly don't feel more hopeful that things will change.

Supreme Reporting

In terms of pure craftsmanship and bang or the buck in learning about the U.S. it is hard to beat Toobin's "The Nine". Simply put, Toobin is a great writer. He infuses drama and erudition into his narrative of the Supreme Court under Rhenquist (and then Roberts). We learn that the Court was really the O'Connor Court, as for two decades she held the center ground and therefore the deciding vote. We see the Court at it's best, as it tacked to moderation on social and commercial issues, and at its worst as it short-circuited the Florida recount in 2008 and installed Bush to the Presidency.

The Supreme Court is the least well understood of the 3 branches of the Federal Government, but often the most important. Toobin takes us behind the closed doors of the Court, giving the reader a sense of how opinions are crafted and how the personalities of the Justices (and their relationships to each other) determines the law of the land. "The Nine" should become a standard text for undergraduate departments of Government and Political Science.

Very interesting book on the Supreme Court

I enjoyed reading this book about the supreme court. It gave a personal look at the judges and how that effects their votes.

Another attack on the Court's right.

Overall this book has an adequate summary of the behind the scenes ongoings in the Court covering the Rehnquist to the Roberts period. Although I often wondered where the information was obtained - how the author had access to comments made during the Court's private conferences.

I take issue with Toobin's constant attack upon the jurists to the right. I would have enjoyed this book much more had the treatment of all of the Justices been handled with the same objectivity. The author clearly expressed this opinion that the jurists on the right are somehow intellectually inferior than the others. I found it quite insulting, inappropriate, and unnecessary. This should have been a neutral reporting of an important period of time of the Court, not an attempt to get even or to take a shot at the right.

The U S Supreme Court at Work

Jeffrey Toobin account of the U S Supreme Court gives the reader a clear perception about its works and its role in the american political system. The composition of the Court, especially in recent time, and the way its works are exposed with reference to particular events in the Justices lifes. The process of nomination and confirmation of the Justices is explained, in order to show how the Constitution wisdom is perceived by the three branchs of government. The author makes a case for the argument that the ideology of each Justice ultimately determines the outcome of the cases they see.

Captivating

I've always loved following Supreme Court cases in the news. This audio book was fantastic and captivated me. I'm going to check out more of Toobin's writing.