Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal Culture |  | Author: Marc Galanter
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy Used: $5.40
as of 8/1/2010 00:07 CDT details
You Save: $21.55 (80%)
New (16) Used (21) from $5.40
Seller: dcgoodwill
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 217543
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 10.4 x 7 x 1
ISBN: 0299213544
Dewey Decimal Number: 306
EAN: 9780299213541
ASIN: 0299213544
Publication Date: August 8, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
What do you call 600 lawyers at the bottom of the sea? Marc Galanter calls it an opportunity to investigate the meanings of a rich and time-honored genre of American humor. "Lowering the Bar" analyzes hundreds of jokes from Mark Twain classics to contemporary anecdotes about Dan Quayle, Johnnie Cochran, and Kenneth Starr. Drawing on representations of law and lawyers in the mass media, political discourse, and public opinion surveys, Galanter finds that the increasing reliance on law coexists uneasily with anxiety about the "legalization" of society. Always entertaining, his book explores the tensions between American's deep-seated belief in the law and their ambivalence about lawyers.
|
| Customer Reviews:
The Mark Twain of lawyer jokes September 21, 2005
Wendy B. Lewis (Bozeman, MT USA)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
There are plenty of lawyer-bashing books, but this is not one of them. Rather, like a modern Mark Twain, Marc Galanter uses lawyer jokes to reflect trends in American society. Through thousands of jokes and cartoons that mock lawyers and legalization, he shows on how the legal system is influencing and being influenced by changing relationships between individuals, between citizens and government, and between consumers and corporations. Lawyer jokes are popular because lawyers still fight and win for the little guy. A good read for your favorite lawyer or lawyer-to-be.
Lawyer jokes for smart people September 20, 2005
R. Killian
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
I thought about starting this review with one of the hundreds of lawyer jokes that are "told" and given life in this excellent book, but I wouldn't want to spoil the punch lines.
The author, evidencing an extrodinarily broad range of knowledge, shows how lawyer jokes have evolved over time (and how some jokes previously targetted at Jews, minorities, and businessmen have evolved into lawyer jokes), and how this evolution reflects larger changes in society about attitudes towards law and individual rights.
In addition, the artwork in the book combines so old favorites from The New Yorker, plus older drawings from earlier centuries.
This is a great book for lawyers and for those who like to make fun of lawyers -- basically, everybody.
Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal culture March 10, 2006
David L. Wandera (Los Angeles, CA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Very funny lawyer jokes. I am enjoying them.
|
|
|
