Customer Reviews

Bluebook : Uniform System of Citation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Research and writing guides for the academic community (and the legal community in this case), don't come much more direct and no-nonsense than this. The Bluebook doesn't mess around with cheesy tips on how to write or structure a paper, which are useless puffery in other style guides that are merely there to add space and cost. The Bluebook lays out the highly complex requirements of the style in an easy-to-follow format, with useful examples for all (or most) possible sources, from standard newspaper articles to sections of foreign constitutions. The book ably provides what you need to write a properly-cited paper for the legal academic world, with no need to waste your time slogging through the filler of a typical style guide. The only problem is that the Bluebook is not quite adequate for beginners, even if they're fairly knowledgeable, because it assumes you're already familiar with the voluminous Latin terms and other arcane language of the legal realm. Basic introductions to some terms would certainly be an asset here, but eventually you'll have to buy a law dictionary anyway. [~doomsdayer520~]

Let's be honest. A lot of people felt that Bluebook had fallen off. After that award show confrontation with ALWD and the concealed weapons charges, Bluebook looked like they were on the ropes. That only makes this 18th edition more triumphant for the Bluebook. A stunning return to the form that made them such an irresistible bunch of ragamuffins to begin with, Bluebook has a sure answer to the naysayers who thought they couldn't adapt to the electronic movement--a blistering tribute to Internet citation.

For anyone interested in their new "harder" sound, the blue practitioner pages don't disappoint. Meanwhile the smooth, sculptural rhythms of "cases in textual sentences" will leave a smile on your face.

Overall, the soothing melodies of this consistently powerful album are ideal for any mood, whether it be insomnia or deadline adrenaline rushes. And let's be honest, it's the Bluebook. You're going to buy it. As another reviewer observed: buy it, don't download it off the internet! The artists really deserve our support.

Oh for heaven's sake! Let's not get carried away. The Bluebook is a useful guide to the complexities of legal citation ONLY because ... get this ... the Bluebook CREATED those complexities in the first place! (What do you expect when you let a bunch of Harvard *students* write the rules?) That's right -- the rules are the rules ONLY because the Bluebook says that's how it should be done, and the entire legal profession has foolishly signed on. The ALWD manual -- a guide produced by practicing lawyers who teach writing -- is MUCH better than the Bluebook in many ways, but no actually uses it outside academia. Until ALWD is the standard in legal practice, you'll need the Bluebook if you plan to be a lawyer.

Mom & Dad, buy this book and a Black's Law Dictionary for your law student- to-be. If you buy anything when you go to law school, buy this. Current attorneys should own a copy; paralegals need to memorize it. I would never put pen to paper and write anything without this book by my side. It is a complete and easy to use reference guide. A time and grade saver for law students accross the nation.

Bilgerunner is correct! We should neither overlook the religious, nor the astronomical implications of The Bluebook, "Oh for heaven's sake!"; the complexities of its tautologies "because ... get this ... the Bluebook CREATED those complexities in the first place!"; its promotion of elitism and class-warfare "What do you expect when you let a bunch of Harvard *students* write the rules?"; its acknowledgement of the metaphysical group-think of a closed society, "the entire legal profession has foolishly signed on"; and, as previously stated, its ultimate tragedy, "Until ALWD is the standard in legal practice, you'll need the Bluebook if you plan to be a lawyer." Nothing, NOTHING, compares to the sweep; the scope; the onomatopoetic characterizations; the vivid text-painting; the dramatic tension and resolution; the historical perspective; the skillful use of regional dialects; the frank and earthy, yet futuristic, dialogue; the compassion and depth of human emotion; the dialectical materialism--in short, and as Governor Palin would say, the simple gosh-darn transcendence--of The Bluebook!