Reversible Errors : A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Scott Turow (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Warner Books, Incorporated; First Thus edition (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330411535
• ISBN-13: 978-0330411530
• ASIN: B001KTKBUO
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,889,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Turow was born in Chicago in 1949. He graduated with high honors from Amherst College in 1970, receiving a fellowship to Stanford University Creative Writing Center which he attended from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 to 1975 Turow taught creative writing at Stanford. In 1975, he entered Harvard Law School, graduating with honors in 1978. From 1978 to 1986, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, serving as lead prosecutor in several high-visibility federal trials investigating corruption in the Illinois judiciary. In 1995, in a major pro bono legal effort he won a reversal in the murder conviction of a man who had spent 11 years in prison, many of them on death row, for a crime another man confessed to.

Today, he is a partner in the Chicago office of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal an international law firm, where his practice centers on white-collar criminal litigation and involves representation of individuals and companies in all phases of criminal matters. Turow lives outside Chicago

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Good Book, December 16, 2002

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reversible Errors: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is Turow's best novel. Turow has taken a genre format, the legal thriller, and attempted to produce a broader psychological novel using the conventions of the genre. The central plot element is the effort of a lawyer to free a semi-retarded prisoner from Death Row. Set in Turow's fictional world of Kindle County, a fictionalized version of Chicago, the book recounts the efforts of the defense counsel, Arthur Raven, to free his client, and the equivalent efforts of the prosecuting team to sustain the conviction. Wrapped around this armature are the primary themes of the book, regret for past choices and failures, and efforts to correct past errors. All the major characters in this book are in some way haunted by prior choices in life. In the course of the story, all of them have some opportunity to revisit and rectify those errors. Some of these errors are crimes, some are ethical lapses, some are professional misconduct, some merely personal failings, and some varying combinations of all these.

Turow is a good writer. His characterizations are excellent and he has a real talent for writing dialogue. The plot of Reversible Errors is constructed well, perhaps a bit too cleverly. His primary protagonist, Arthur Raven, is an extremely sympathetic character; a bit of an everyman who succeeds on the basis of diligence and decency rather than talent.

This is an ambitious book and Turow largely succeeds in his aim of exploring regret and the consequences of unfortunate choices in life. Some parts of the book are affecting. This is probably the first of Turow's books that deserves to be classified with other works that surpass their genre such as the better novels of PD James or John Le Carre.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turow Tackles a Tough Topic and Comes Out on Top, October 31, 2002

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reversible Errors: A Novel (Hardcover)

With his usual flair, Turow tackles the eternally thorny question of the death penalty. One thing I love about Turow is that his novels are always caught in the midst of a larger perspective, and in this case, it's centers on questions of morality, justice, and revenge. The great thing is that this book creatively considers the subject of "reversible error," that is, when the system screws up, how does (or can it) correct itself.

Problem is, it usually doesn't, and that goes especially for cases involving the poor or retarded. If you're not a regular reader of Turow, don't fret; you can read this one as a first book if you want, since the story is intact inside this novel. What you'll find is Turow's knack for creating very vivid characters. For example, there's the tough, smart detective named Larry Staczek and an ambitious (is there any other kind?) young prosecutor Muriel Wynn who work together to get a confession and conviction of the mentally retarded thief (Rommy Gandolf) of a particularly vicious murder at a diner. But just 33 days away from his execution, Gandolf is insisting that he did not commit the murders.

Turow manages to capture the spectrum of damaged souls that inhabit the legal system, as well as interdepartmental rivalries that exist in every organization, but more so in bureaucratic ones: the angry, underappreciated cops on the front lines, the ambitious and politicized prosecutors, the important DNA and ballistics technicians, the remote and egomaniacal judges, and dragged along by the unspoken undertow of race. What we find is that mistakes are sometimes made, and when they are by the legal system, it often ruins not just one, but multiple lives. I think this is one of Turow's best, so of course I heartily recommend it.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Turow brings it to life. Impressive offering., January 12, 2003

By 

R. Shaff "Velocipede" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reversible Errors: A Novel (Hardcover)

Scott Turow's first novel, PRESUMED INNOCENT, was a blockbuster success and while his subsequent novels haven't met with the same critical success, they have been bestsellers. With REVERSIBLE ERRORS, Turow has reclaimed some of the storytelling brio found in PRESUMED INNOCENT. Unlike Grisham, Turow provides a reader with the inner workings of the law, an often bleak view of our ultimate system of judgement. Turow, who has actually practiced law from both sides of the advocate system, knows it intimately and writes about it with passion. With that, he has given the reader one of his best with REVERSIBLE ERRORS.

REVERSIBLE ERRORS begins with about 50 to 75 pages of elaborate Michener-esque scene-setting, a writing tactic that will eliminate a few readers before the story begins. However, once Turow lays the groundwork and character definitions, the plot is moving and exciting. (NOTE: I strongly urge readers to "muddle" through this background overview...you'll not be disappointed.)

The protagonist in REVERSIBLE ERRORS is attorney Arthur Raven. After working for several years as a deputy prosecuting attorney, he joined a prominent firm and has ascended to the partnership level concentrating his practice in corporate civil litigation. Turow describes Arthur as late-30's, divorced, inept with women, prematurely middle-aged, but devoted to the law with ardent passion. Arthur's idealism is severely tested when he is appointed the pro bono case of Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph. Rommy, truly nothing more than a petty thief, was implicated and convicted a decade ago in a bloody triple murder, a murder to which he ostensibly confessed. Now Rommy is on death row awaiting imminent execution. Arthur's appointment comes as Rommy, with his last appeal gone, is repudiating his confession and insisting on his innocence. Since the appeal process only allows points of law to be the subject of review, Arthur's only hope is to find "reversible error" in Rommy's trial and conviction. Turow defines reversible error for the reader as "error sufficiently egregious as to render capital punishment unjust and excessive."

Arthur knows the battle is virtually impossible until another prisoner, Erno Erdai, writes a letter to the judge who presided over Rommy's original trial. The judge, Gillian Sullivan, has just been released from a federal prison for women after being convicted of 'selling judgement.' After Arthur reluctantly agrees to interview Erdai (with the help of former Judge Sullivan), he realizes that, in fact, Rommy may be innocent.

The plot and climax of the book are solid and exciting. There is plenty of diverting suspense providing several tense and somewhat anxious moments. With REVERSIBLE ERRORS, Turow proves his understanding of the proper weave of legal jargon and tactics into "lay" jargon. With the exception of the opening descriptive "essay," REVERSIBLE ERRORS is a thoroughly enjoyable read.