One L Audiobook By Scott Turow cover art

One L

The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

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One L

By: Scott Turow
Narrated by: Holter Graham
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Decades after Scott Turow entered law school comes an all new unabridged production of this classic with a special introduction by and interview with the author

One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school and a best seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it also brings alive the anxiety and competitiveness - with others and, even more, with oneself - that set the tone in this crucible of character building.

Each September, a new crop of students enter Harvard Law School to begin an intense, often grueling, sometimes harrowing year of introduction to the law. Will the One L's survive? Will they excel? Will they make the Law Review, the outward and visible sign of success in this ultra-competitive microcosm.

With remarkable insight into both his fellow students and himself, Turow leads us through the ups and downs, the small triumphs and tragedies of the year, in an absorbing and thought-provoking narrative that teaches the listener not only about law school and the law but also about the human beings who make them what they are.

©1977, 1988 Scott Turow (P)2005 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC Education Law Professionals & Academics Thought-Provoking Law School

Critic reviews

"The most accurate, complete, and balanced description yet of a century-old rite of passage in America." (Baltimore Sun)
"[One L] should be read by anyone who has ever contemplated going to law school or anyone who has ever worried about being human." (The New York Times)
Authentic Experience • Insightful Storytelling • Lively Narration • Excellent Portrayal • Profound Account
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The intensity, information, and honesty about all the factors of being a 1L provided great insight into the mechanisms that may tempt you from your success.

Great and honest book about the 1L process

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I would highly recommend this book to anybody considering law school. There is no other book of its kind...it will definitely give you an idea as to what you're in for.

considering law school?

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One L brought insight into the self-induced psychopathology that first year students bestow on themselves, as well as the misdirected, flip pieces of advice that professors give to students undergoing a great deal of stress. I also became very interested in learning the basics of the law. I never knew what "torts" were until I listened to the story. I was impressed with the liveliness of the narration, and the clear writing as well. While some explanations rambled a bit, I was very interested in hearing Turow's story, and listened to the story straight through. I have new insight to the world my lawyer friends went through in their first year, and greater understanding why many of them exhibit the aggressive, combative personas when I talk with them. Turow wrote the book while undergoing law school, and the tone of the narrator's complaints and demonizing remarks sometimes come across as immature and whiny. Nonetheless, the narrative felt authentic, and I was engrossed in Turow's progress.

A well-told and well-written account

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You can really feel what the author is feeling as he writes in his journal about his first year. I don't agree with his politics, and think some of his fears may have been misplaced, but I haven't gone to Harvard Law School, so I can't comment further.

Good Story

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This is really only useful for people who are wanting to be lawyers. I read it mainly as research for another project, and I was bored to tears by the lengthy coda wherein the now-older author tells us all about his opinion on legal practice vs legal academia. It’s cool if you’re into that, but I found myself aghast when he explained very eloquently in a final interview some very important information about his time at Harvard which wasn’t covered at all in the book — namely, that his time there was made all the more precarious by his own sense of having “already failed” as a writer at the tender age of 26. This piece of characterization, while perhaps seeming small, was actually kind of a major aspect missing from the main body of the text. Indeed, I knew very very little of the author-protagonist’s backstory by the end of the book, which was odd. I learned much more about him from that interview at the end. My first thought was that, had the younger author been keen to add more vulnerability and heart to the story — really get into his demons in a way that I acknowledge perhaps wasn’t appropriate for men in the 70s to do, especially white Ivy League educated lawyers-to-be — it would’ve read much more cleanly. There was a ton of telling-not-showing, and the central “Incident” was a yawn. Not my favorite, but weirdly I’m glad I read it, so I know definitively not to be a lawyer.

Not a great “general audience” book

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My daughter expects to attend law school next year, and I thought this book would give me a better sense of what her experience might be like. In that regard, i got what I wanted out of it, and it was well written to boot. The afterward, written from the perspective of thirty years out of law school, was also excellent. The question whether its observations are dated I don't have enough knowledge to judge.

Comes across as observant, truthful and thoughtful

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I ordered "One L" on a whim, having last read it approximately fifteen years ago (while still a law student). I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I got from it, even now. And the narrator, Hilton Graham, does an absolutely beautiful job.

Great book, great narration

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great story telling. I listened to it and was able to pictures the class rooms, situations and drama throughout the first year.

riveting story telling with characters

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In 2022, it's is remarkable to me how much this book still resonates with law students and their experience, regardless of the law school they attend. I read this looking for more of a mental preparation for dreaded 1st year we hear so much about. I wanted my wife to listen to it so she has some kind of reference for the massive undertaking that is law school and the toll it could take, so that we can prepare, as much as possible, for the next few years. Scott's insight gives me some nerves but mostly provides a kind of mental support that allows me to know my experience isn't singular and isn't that what what we all want....to know we aren't the only ones, that we aren't in it alone. If you are thinking of going to law school, about to start law school or know someone who is, get this book.

A 0L Must Read

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I enjoyed listening to this book, but kept on wondering why his class cared so much about grades, to the point of destroying their experience at HLS.

Pleasant read

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