ACTIVE LIBERTY Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution

Breyer, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, presents his manifesto for Constitutional interpretation. Seemingly a rebuttal to his colleagues Scalia (unnamed) and Thomas (named), the work seems to have been intended for general readership. However, it is still written by a judge/lawyer and is, at best, very dry. Breyer reads his own work the way he wrote it--dispassionately and ploddingly. This reviewer hasn't heard such a boring reading by an author since one done by President Carter a decade ago. There is an interview with the author after the work is completed in which he is a bit more animated--almost human. Perhaps one can say that this recording is that of a barrister rather than an advocate. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 06/ JAN 07]