Rumpole on Trial: Selections [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

John Mortimer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rumpole | Publication Date: December 1, 1992

This collection of adventures finds the irreverent, eternally disheveled barrister back in the courtrooms of the Old Bailey. 2 cassettes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Public TV has made a huge audience familiar with Mortimer's rumpled and irritable English barrister, and this book of Rumpole yarns is very much the sort of mixture Mortimer has prospered with before. The legal knowledge is keen but lightly worn, the plots flimsy but serviceable and the humor endearingly old-fashioned, rather like an English music hall turn. (A contemporary reader will often find particular difficulty with such pawky formula stuff as Rumpole's calling his wife She Who Must Be Obeyed.) The title story is a gem, as Rumpole carries his genial contempt for judges a bit too far and is driven to apologize only when he realizes what a life of retirement from the bar would be like; others, like "Rumpole and the Eternal Triangle" and "Rumpole and the Soothsayer," are rather tired and mechanical. In his non-Rumpole novels ( Titmuss Regained et al.), Mortimer always seems a sweeter-natured, more rounded artist than the man who keeps Rumpole going. He wouldn't be the first author whose public remained fonder of a character than its creator is, and this collection shows signs of such disaffection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

John Mortimer is a playwright, novelist, and former practicing barrister who has written many film scripts as well as stage, radio, and television plays, the Rumpole plays, for which he received the British Academy Writer of the Year Award, and the adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. He is the author of twelve collections of Rumpole stories and three acclaimed volumes of autobiography.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Highbridge Audio; Abridged edition (December 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0453007945
• ISBN-13: 978-0453007948
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,709,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rumpole's Role Reversal, September 7, 2000

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Rumpole on Trial (Paperback)

In "Rumpole on Trial" Horace Rumpole experiences the legal system from a new perspective--that of a defendant. Accused of unethical conduct, he goes from attorney to client, and he faces the fight of his life to keep his license to practice law. But he doesn't fight. Can Miz Liz Probert save her uncooperative client?

There are three "Rumpole Omnibuses" (Or is it Omnibi?), each of which contains three previously published Rumpole books. But Mortimer wrote ten Rumpole books. This book, "Rumpole on Trial" is the one which was left out of the "Omnibuses." If you like Rumpole (and who wouldn't), don't overlook this little gem.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully humorous Rupole at his best., January 6, 1999

By 

James R. Nuttall (East Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rumpole on Trial (Paperback)

If you enjoy the judicial adventures of Rumpole, you will especially enjoy this set of cases. This time John Mortimer has given us a set of cases that subtly tickle our sense of humor. I've read some of the other Rumpole books, but this one had me chuckling through out the entire book. So, if you have enjoyed the television series, you will especially enjoy these cases. The case of Rumpole before the judiciary committee was presented on PBS. It is even better here in the written form.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Continuing the entertainment, September 10, 2003

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rumpole On Trial (Paperback)

This book, written 14 years after Rumpole od the Bailey, is every bit as entertaining. We are reintroduced to the Timson family who retain Rumpole to represent them each time one of the family is charges with a criminal activity.Ineffectual Erskine-Brown, who finds criminal law "distasteful", is accused of sexual harassment by yhe office typist and finds it hard to convince the members of Chambers that it's all caused by his sheer stupidity(and this man is a QC!)We also meet again various judges with their foibles and failings. It's a good laugh and a perfect book to pick up for a quick read when we need a laughter boost.