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Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned Audiobook
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(3.05) - 192 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Clarence Darrow is the lawyer every law school student dreams of being:
on the side of right, loved by many women, played by Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind. His days-long closing arguments delivered without notes won miraculous reprieves for men doomed to hang.
Darrow left a promising career as a railroad lawyer during the
tumultuous Gilded Age in order to champion poor workers, blacks, and
social and political outcasts against big business, Jim Crow, and
corrupt officials. He became famous defending union leader Eugene Debs
in the land-mark Pullman Strike case and went from one headline case to
the next—until he was nearly crushed by an indictment for bribing a
jury. He redeemed himself in Dayton, Tennessee, defending schoolteacher
John Scopes in the "Monkey Trial," cementing his place in history.
Now, John A. Farrell draws on previously unpublished correspondence and
memoirs to offer a candid account of Darrow's divorce, affairs, and
disastrous finances; new details of his feud with his law partner, the
famous poet Edgar Lee Masters; a shocking disclosure about one of his
most controversial cases; and explosive revelations of shady tactics he
used in his own trial for bribery.
Clarence Darrow is a sweeping, surprising portrait of a leg-endary legal mind.
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"Darrow is a gargantuan figure, every bit as amazing as his reputation, and this is a wonderfilled biography. Darrow is skeptical, generous and venal, idealistic and cynical, shrewd and reckless, oversexed and loving, progressive and corrupt: a plethora of personality traits tumbling out upon an amazing event-filled life. But if that just seems like a grab bag of random characteristics, Farrell writes with a deft precision, and a fine attention to detail, as well as allowing ample space for Darrow to unleash his intellect in pure torrents of speech, recreating rich as life the events surrounding his most famous legal cases. Somehow, it all comes together, and all these disparate parts seem to justly form the measure of the man. And despite his near nihilism, the one characteristic that seems to explain him best is a horror of death, which informed him with a terrible pity and compassion for his fellow creatures, a hatred of executions and persecution, greed and prejudice, all of which seem hopelessly vindictive in the shadow of the grave."
— Ed (5 out of 5 stars)
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A completely engaging portrait of a flawed man of noble ideals.
— Booklist Starred Review
Clarence Darrow Listener Reviews
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" A very good biography of one of America's most fascinating figures. "
— Stanley, 2/11/2014 -
" The book was very informative and took a very clear perspective on Darrow's actions. The author sought to portray Darrow not as a activist of modern times, but as a legal figure in history. "
— Brandon, 2/4/2014 -
" My only complaint is the abruptness of the ending. After such a detailed look at Mr. Darrow's life, it seemed to me that a retrospective or at least some more closing thoughts from the author were warranted. Otherwise, though, I really enjoyed it. "
— Angeline, 1/15/2014 -
" A truly fascinating life. I loved all the stories of the events that came to define him. Great book for those who like reading about interesting and influential people. "
— Jesuspoet, 1/14/2014 -
" Famous for a lot more than the Scopes Monkey trial "
— Michael, 3/6/2013 -
" Clarence Darrow was a hero of mine - famous from the Scopes Monkey trial. This book opens the door to his life. He is no saint, but his fight for the working man was and still is inspirational. Loved learning about turn of the century America. "
— Susie, 10/21/2012 -
" Enjoyed it, though the recounting of the trials can sometimes be a bit confusing -- a jumble of names and facts without a great narrative. "
— Jim, 10/14/2012 -
" I cheered for Darrow in one chapter and would hiss at him in the next. I think that's a heckuva sign of a well-balanced biography. Well researched and well written. "
— Dave, 7/22/2012
About John A. Farrell
John A. Farrell is the author of several biographies, including the New York Times bestselling Richard Nixon: The Life, which won the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography and the New York Historical Society Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2018. In 2001, he published Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century, which won the D. B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress. His book Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography in 2011. He has also earned a George Polk award, the Gerald R. Ford prize, and White House Correspondents honors for his coverage of the presidency.
About Danny Campbell
Danny Campbell is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actor who has appeared in CBS’ The Guardian, the films A Pool, a Fool, and a Duel and Greater Than Gravity, and in over twenty-five commercials. He is a company member of the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles and is an adjunct faculty member at Santa Monica College.