Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0684842785, Paperback)

Now out in paperback (with a new chapter on the civil trial), and still at the head of the very crowded class of O. J. books, this isn't just a book for O. J. junkies; it's a book for anyone who wants to understand how the criminal justice system breaks down. Toobin, a former prosecutor, chronicles the great and small things that led to what he views as a miscarriage of justice, such as the prosecution's courting of the media, which took the grand jury out of the process and forced a preliminary hearing in which the defense got an unnecessarily good peek at the case; Marcia Clark's decision to ignore a high-powered (and pro bono) jury consultant's advice and to go instead with her "gut"; and Chris Darden's impetuous and unilateral decision to have Simpson try on the gloves. Of course, there was also a jury that utterly failed to deliberate--Toobin reports that just after returning the verdict, one black juror explained her decision this way: "We've got to protect our own."

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0679441700, Hardcover)

Just when you thought everyone and their second-cousin had published a book on the most famous criminal proceding of the century, along comes a book about the trial that actually deserves to be read.

Jeffrey Toobin's coverage of the trial of O.J. Simpson for The New Yorker magazine was the first to focus on the reality that no one wanted to addresss directly, but that pervaded every moment of the trial and perhaps even the crime itself - that race was at the heart of everything. Toobin's explosive article in July 1994, "An Incendiary Defense," laid out the defense lawyers' strategy, fingered Mark Fuhrman as their chief villain, and made the "race card" the euphemism of choice.

In The Run of His Life, Toobin's reporting, based on his unprecedented access to sources to the sources on all sides, lets us see, in a fresh light, the prosecutors, defense attorneys, private eyes, waiters, dog walkers, cops, ex-football stars, TV personalities, forensic experts, and so many others. He also offers an insightful examination of the larger questions raised by the case - including the importance of celebrity, race (and the way it's manipulated in the media), California as both a state and a state of mind, domestic violence, American jurisprudence, and the efficacy of the jury system.