Poisoned Ivy: How Egos, Ideology, and Power Politics Almost Ruined Harvard Law School [Hardcover]

Eleanor Kerlow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

A revealing and dispassionate look at the recent history of Harvard Law School recounts the ideological and political battles currently being waged over changes that have been made in the school's traditional style and focus.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Kerlow chronicles the dark undercurrents that swirl below the ivory towers of Harvard Law School. When three reform-minded professors arrived at Harvard in the 1980s, a period of chaos began. Kerlow paints a disturbing picture of a law school bent on self-destruction. As with so much academic infighting, what began as a legitimate ideological dispute soon descended into a quagmire of "grandstanding, name-calling, and score-settling." This well-written expos{‚}e will give readers a whole new perspective on a once-revered institution. Nobody can argue about the past success of the Harvard Law School, but this account will leave one with a whole new feeling about the future of Harvard's hallowed halls. Scott Wilkens

Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312113676
• ISBN-13: 978-0312113674
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,156,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Poorly Written and Biased Book, October 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Poisoned Ivy: How Egos, Ideology, and Power Politics Almost Ruined Harvard Law School (Hardcover)

Poisoned Ivy starts with an unoriginal title and only gets worse. This was an interesting time in the history of Harvard Law, but Kerlow doesn't do justice to the competition of ideas and values that was going on but instead simply blames one side of the debate for all of the school's troubles. She pumps out all the old, predictable left-wing propaganda familiar to law students: lawyers in large firms are evil, conservatives are racist/sexist/homophobic, etc. This book is worth reading only if you agree with Kerlow's point of view and want to get really worked up over a relatively unimportant series of events.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful, May 2, 2006

By 

Alexander Marshall - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poisoned Ivy: How Egos, Ideology, and Power Politics Almost Ruined Harvard Law School (Hardcover)

Kerlow decides that it is incumbent upon her to shore up flagging left-liberal voices at HLS with a quick polemic. Since balance is too much to ask from her, those who want a fuller account should read a recent article in the Harvard Journal of Public Policy which deals with this episode.

Meanwhile, Kerlow should stick to fawning hagiographies or frenzied fulminations. She does both well.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars At least her biases are obvious..., December 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Poisoned Ivy: How Egos, Ideology, and Power Politics Almost Ruined Harvard Law School (Hardcover)

This book has one redeeming factor, and only one: the moment you open her "book," two sentences in, you discover her perspective. "In the 1990's, it [Harvard Law School] has become a mockery of itself." Her basis for this contention, you demand? Well, I'm afraid you'll be dissapointed: there's very little. Synopsis: A famous African-American professor left the school because there weren't enough minorities and women, and there was a flap over a vile parody of a dead woman's work. Rather than condemn the indivudals invlolved, the "lawyer-journalist," true to her sensationalist instincts, leaps at the opportunity to condemn the institution. As a current first-year student there, that book horrifies me with the facts, but those facts were easily acessable elsewhere. Her unique bias is reflected from that second sentence to the final "Harvard Law School will never recapture its glory unless it makes that connection." From two scenarios that could be viewed as discrimation -- or could be cast in a more innocent, albeit foolish and politically incorrect, light -- she leaps at the opportunity to condemn Harvard Law School for some imagined slight. If you want to read a book that harshly portrays HLS, there's quite a lot out there. You don't need to read this pop-paranoia.