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Trial By Juryby W. S. Gilbert And Arthur Sullivan  Download Book (Respecting the intellectual property of others is utmost important to us, we make every effort to make sure we only link to legitimate sites, such as those sites owned by authors and publishers. If you have any questions about these links, please contact us.) link 1 About Book Amazon.com Historian D. Graham Burnett writes about his experience as the foreman of the jury in a murder trial in New York City, what he calls "the most intense sixty-six hours of my life." There was nothing especially spectacular about the case; it was not a famous one, and while A Trial by Jury holds interest, it's not a John Grisham potboiler. Yet Burnett uses the experience to illuminate the heavy responsibilities of jury duty and all the maddening frustrations associated with determining something as deceptively simple as reasonable doubt. "The jury room is a remarkable--and largely inaccessible--space in our society, a space where ideas, memories, virtues, and prejudices clash with the messy stuff of the big, bad world," Burnett writes in this elegant chronicle. His primary characters--his fellow jury members--come alive on these pages: "a clutch of strangers yelled, cursed, rolled on the floor, vomited, whispered, embraced, sobbed, and invoked both God and necromancy." He grows to like some, and "loathe" others. ("Are there some citizens not clearly able to distinguish daytime television from daily life?" he asks at one point.) Parts of the book are funny, as when he describes the small steps he took to encourage the trial lawyers to strike him out of the jury pool: "I promised to give any healthy prosecutor hives. I brought along a copy of The New York Review of Books just in case." Alas, Burnett found himself in the courtroom, and eventually he became foreman. This allows him to wrestle through the contradictory evidence presented by both sides--and forces him to conclude that even the truth can resemble a muddle when presented in court. He has trouble making up his own mind about the case--this is no Twelve Angry Men update, though its insights on jury-room dynamics are just as instructive. Burnett also ruminates on his own profession: "I realize now that for me--a humanist, an academic, a poetaster--the primary aim of sustained thinking and talking had always been, in a way, more thinking and talking. Cycles of reading, interpreting, and discussing were always exactly that: cycles. One never 'solved' a poem, one read it, and then read it again--each reading emerging from earlier efforts and preparing the mind for future readings." Jury duty, of course, demands an awesome finality--and the conclusion to the trial involving Burnett is one that haunts the author after the gavel falls. --John Miller
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal A young scholar with a one-year fellowship at a prestigious New York City learning institution suddenly finds his quiet, bookish life interrupted by jury duty in Manhattan. Burnett (history, Princeton) chronicles his own path from ordinary citizen and prospective juror, to seated juror, to jury foreman, to peacemaker, and, finally, to resolution artist as he uses his own unique blend of knowledge and reason to lead 11 other disparate souls to a unanimous verdict. The book offers rare, insightful views inside a jury room, as people from all walks of life try to work together and reach a consensus. The case at hand involves a complex blend of seduction and murder, with the defendant claiming he killed the victim in self-defense after being pressured for sex. What emerges from the author's leadership of the deliberations is his attempt to build a consensus through a unique blend of patience, knowledge, and wisdom intrinsic to the rigor and discipline of classical and academic thought processes. Burnett reminds us how imperfect the adversarial system of law really is, and the narrative format allows for a rapid and enjoyable overview of the topic. Recommended for academic and public libraries. - Philip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Lib., New York Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From A professor of science history recounts his disturbing experience on the jury of a murder trial. His intelligent, well-observed memoir raises questions about the personalities, politics, and issues surrounding the administration of justice through the jury system. Burnett reads with a thick and awkward tongue, but with a nice sense of drama. His oral interpretation of his fellow jurors possesses the authenticity of the eyewitness. Further, as author and narrator, he superbly parses complex ideas. Altogether absorbing and thought-provoking. Y.R. © AudioFile 2002,Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine From Booklist History professor Burnett ended up on a New York City jury that heard a kinky, gory murder case. He discloses the verdict in the first chapter, so readers are not in suspense about the ending. But there is suspense of other sorts: How will the prosecution try to make the case that what occurred was murder rather than self-defense? How will the defense counter that accusation? How will the 12 jurors reach a verdict given their seemingly incompatible backgrounds, beliefs, intelligence levels, and understanding of the evidence? The book is divided into two parts--what happened in open court, and what happened behind closed doors during four days (including sequestration at night) of deliberations. Burnett is a keen observer at trial, becoming especially poignant when explaining how jurors are kept in the dark about so many relevant factors, such as the backgrounds of the victim and the defendant. He is also observant when narrating what took place during the jury deliberations. But with 12 equally important characters to describe, and with the discussion taking so many seemingly incomprehensible turns, the narrative becomes difficult to follow. Burnett, a perceptive and fluent stylist, wisely decides to discuss only the case at hand, rather than extrapolating from his idiosyncratic experience to all criminal trials. An aggressive marketing campaign will spur demand. Steve Weinberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review ?[Burnett] is a graceful, economical writer, with a sharp eye for detail and a nuanced feel for character. . . . Irresistible.? ?The New York Times Book Review ?Immensely readable.? ?The Washington Post ?Burnett manages to paint vivid portraits of his fellow-jurors and examine the knottier issues of class, race, and gender that complicate the justice system?s search for objective truth.? ?The New Yorker ?A pleasure to read . . . Illuminating and, ultimately, uplifting.? ?The Nation ?Never have we been privy to actual jury room deliberations in all of their stark human complexity and perversity ? and certainly never under the guidance of a sensibility, intelligence, and narrative skill like Mr. Burnett?s.? ?New York Law Journal Book Description Read by the author 5 CDs/approx. 5 hours Jury duty happens to everyone. When the call came to Graham Burnett—a young historian and literary journalist—he had a shock in store. A Trial by Jury is his startling account of how performing this familiar civic duty turned into one of the most harrowing experiences of his life. Burnett begins the story of the trial: a body with multiple stab wounds found in a New York apartment, intimations of cross-dressing, male prostitution, mistake identity. And then, the unexpected drama: Burnett finds himself appointed the foreman, with the responsibility of leading the increasingly frenetic deliberations within the black box of the jury room. Soon he is sequestered—which is to say marooned—with 11 others, among them a vacuum—cleaner repairman cum urban missionary, a young actress, and a man apparently floundering in a borderline between real life and daytime television. Steering the contentious politics of their temporary no-exit society toward the verdict, he discovers for himself the terrifying ultimate power of the state and the agonizing truth of the legal system: law and justice are not the same thing. Part true crime, part political treatise, part contemplation of right, wrong, and the power of words, A Trial by Jury is a mesmerizing narrative of one man's encounter with crime and punishment, American style. It profoundly affects one's sense of the privileges—and the perils!—of citizenship. Download Description Discovering that law and justice are not the same thing, Burnett presents a narrative of his encounter with crime and punishment, American style, when he serves on a jury and realizes the terrifying power of the state. Inside Flap Copy Read by the author 5 CDs/approx. 5 hours Jury duty happens to everyone. When the call came to Graham Burnett?a young historian and literary journalist?he had a shock in store. A Trial by Jury is his startling account of how performing this familiar civic duty turned into one of the most harrowing experiences of his life. Burnett begins the story of the trial: a body with multiple stab wounds found in a New York apartment, intimations of cross-dressing, male prostitution, mistake identity. And then, the unexpected drama: Burnett finds himself appointed the foreman, with the responsibility of leading the increasingly frenetic deliberations within the black box of the jury room. Soon he is sequestered?which is to say marooned?with 11 others, among them a vacuum?cleaner repairman cum urban missionary, a young actress, and a man apparently floundering in a borderline between real life and daytime television. Steering the contentious politics of their temporary no-exit society toward the verdict, he discovers for himself the terrifying ultimate power of the state and the agonizing truth of the legal system: law and justice are not the same thing. Part true crime, part political treatise, part contemplation of right, wrong, and the power of words, A Trial by Jury is a mesmerizing narrative of one man's encounter with crime and punishment, American style. It profoundly affects one's sense of the privileges?and the perils!?of citizenship. From the Back Cover “[Burnett] is a graceful, economical writer, with a sharp eye for detail and a nuanced feel for character. . . . Irresistible.” —The New York Times Book Review “Immensely readable.” —The Washington Post “Burnett manages to paint vivid portraits of his fellow-jurors and examine the knottier issues of class, race, and gender that complicate the justice system’s search for objective truth.” —The New Yorker “A pleasure to read . . . Illuminating and, ultimately, uplifting.” —The Nation “Never have we been privy to actual jury room deliberations in all of their stark human complexity and perversity — and certainly never under the guidance of a sensibility, intelligence, and narrative skill like Mr. Burnett’s.” —New York Law Journal About the Author D. Graham Burnett is a historian of science and the author of Masters of All They Surveyed. After graduating from Princeton University, he was a Marshall Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1999, Chicago’s Newberry Library awarded him the Nebenzahl Prize in the History of Cartography. A 1999–2000 Fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, he has taught at Yale and Columbia Universities, and is currently an assistant professor in the history department at Princeton. Related Free eBooks | Related Tags            |
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