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A THOUSAND TIMES MORE FAIR
By: Kenji Yoshino
What Shakespeare's Plays Teach Us About Justice
Ecco
April 2011
On Sale: April 12, 2011
320 pages
ISBN: 006176910X
EAN: 9780061769108
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
A provocative exploration of justice in our time through fresh readings of Shakespeare's greatest plays Celebrated legal scholar Kenji Yoshino's first book, Covering, was acclaimedβfrom the New York Times Book Review to O, The Oprah Magazine to the American Lawyerβfor its elegant prose, its good humor, and its brilliant insights into civil rights and discrimination law. Now, in A Thousand Times More Fair, Yoshino turns his attention to the broad question of what makes a fair and just society, and he delves deep into a surprising source to answer it: Shakespeare's greatest plays. An enormously creative and provocative book, A Thousand Times More Fair addresses fundamental questions we ask about our world today: Why is the rule of law better than revenge? How much mercy should we show a wrongdoer? What does it mean to "prove" guilt or innocence? As Yoshino argues, a searching examination of Shakespeare's playsβand the many advocates, judges, criminals, and vigilantes who populate themβcan elucidate some of the most troubling issues in contemporary life. With a great ear for Shakespeare and an eye trained steadily on current affairs, Yoshino considers how competing models of judging presented in Measure for Measure resurfaced around the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; how the revenge cycle of Titus Andronicus illuminates the "war on terror" and our military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq; how the white handkerchief in Othello and the black glove in the O. J. Simpson trial reflect forms of proof that overwhelm all other evidence; and how the spectacle of an omnipotent ruler voluntarily surrendering power in The Tempest, as Cincinnatus did before him and George Washington did after him, informs regime change in our own time. A Thousand Times More Fair is an altogether original book about Shakespeare and the law, and an ideal starting point to explore the nature of a just societyβand our own.
 Media BuzzOn Point - April 15, 2011
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