The Run of His Life : The People versus O. J. Simpson [Paperback]

Jeffrey Toobin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 1997

Called by The Wall Street Journal "the pick of the litter" among books on the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, this is the definitive commentary on the most famous trial of this century.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Now out in paperback (with a new chapter on the civil trial), and still at the head of the very crowded class of O. J. books, this isn't just a book for O. J. junkies; it's a book for anyone who wants to understand how the criminal justice system breaks down. Toobin, a former prosecutor, chronicles the great and small things that led to what he views as a miscarriage of justice, such as the prosecution's courting of the media, which took the grand jury out of the process and forced a preliminary hearing in which the defense got an unnecessarily good peek at the case; Marcia Clark's decision to ignore a high-powered (and pro bono) jury consultant's advice and to go instead with her "gut"; and Chris Darden's impetuous and unilateral decision to have Simpson try on the gloves. Of course, there was also a jury that utterly failed to deliberate--Toobin reports that just after returning the verdict, one black juror explained her decision this way: "We've got to protect our own."

From Library Journal

Toobin was an assistant U.S. attorney before joining the staff of The New Yorker, which published "An Incendiary Defense," his groundbreaking article on the O.J. Simpson case in its July 25, 1994 issue. This will be a big book, but as the contents are deemed "highly confidential," we can't say much more.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone Books; 1st edition (May 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684842785
• ISBN-13: 978-0684842783
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black and White and Read All Over, September 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson (Hardcover)

The dust jacket for The Run of His Life is pure black on one side and pure white on the other. From the outset of the bizarre, ever-televised story, O.J. Simpson's defense lawyers sought to exploit race, and of course they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams through a combination of amazing luck and sheer audacity.

The purpose of this book is clearly not to change any minds about the substantial issues of the case itself, about which everyone seems to be intractable. Even though Toobin is one of the more objective (though not uninvolved) observers of the case and his point of view rings more true than that of the participants, the stereotypical white reader will agree with most of what's in this book, and the stereotypical black reader will find many faults.

The main value of this book is as a fascinating picture of the machinations behind the public events and of the personalities involved, and as an integrated narrative of the essentials of the story. It was utterly engaging to this reader, who followed the trial fairly closely, but it would be of great interest to anyone looking for first-rate coverage of the ultimate modern American fiasco.

It's simply an amazing story, not just about a murder case, of course, and not just about race, but also about celebrity (Simpson's, the lawyers, the witnesses, etc.) and the ramifications of race for the central celebrity, who once said in an interview, "I'm not black, I'm O.J." Johnny Cochran may be right that race affects everything in America, but for O.J. Simpson, his celebrity and wealth had an overriding impact on everything in his life, a life which even before the murders was evidently a hollow and tawdry one. Even if Simpson had been unequivocally proven innocent, his image would have still suffered from the revelations of a life filled with sycophants, ever-seedier commercial endorsements, and of course spousal battery and abuse.

Toobin provides some very fascinating background on all the major players, including the LAPD, and he makes a totally convincing case that far from there being a conspiracy against Simpson, there was incredible favoritism afforded him by police, especially in the domestic violence complaints against him and even in the murder case.

But even this white reader found himself often wondering what Toobin's sources were for many seemingly inobservable events. His list of sources at the back of the book doesn't name any interview subjects, and only on rare occasions does he attribute anything specifically in the narrative itself. For example, in the description of events leading to the infamous glove demonstration, he writes: "Clark thought about saying something, risking the humiliation of her colleague by saying, 'No! Stop!' But she kept her seat." Did Marcia Clark, a lead prosecutor, tell him this herself? (And is she likely to be telling the truth?) He doesn't say.

Given the huge axes being ground by all the parties (and even those not directly involved), one wonders about many such accounts in this book. Another example is the description of a jailhouse meeting between Simpson and three of his lawyers, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian and Skip Taft, on the night before the verdict, in which dialog is quoted which makes it clear that Simpson had already learned of the verdict via the L.A. Sheriff's department grapevine. (The Sheriff's department guarded Simpson and was also in charge of the sequestered jury.) Even though the account is plausible and there isn't any clear reason for anyone to lie, Toobin was obviously not present and the integrity of the parties is in doubt.

The main revelation to this reader was the degree to which a fair trial was impossible given the incredible attention to it and the pressure this exerted on all parties, especially the jury. Toobin readily refutes claims by jurors that race didn't play a role in their decision. He quotes from Johnny Cochran's closing argument: "Your verdict goes far beyond the doors of this courtroom. That's not to put any pressure on you, just to let you know what is really happening out there." Toobin writes: "It was, one supposes, just a sort of courtesy to warn the jurors what their lives might be like if they happened to vote to convict this man." Given the incredibly polarized public reactions to the verdict, this is a very crucial point -- picture prosecutor Chistopher Darden being spat on by black brothers and sisters outside the courtroom. In such a situation, one cannot expect from ordinary people a reasoned decision based solely on the evidence, especially given the room for doubt (if not "reasonable doubt") in this case. In the words of juror Carrie Bess just after the jury was excused after the reading of the verdict: "We've got to protect our own."

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Run of His Life is about race, July 11, 2000

By 

william woolum - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson (Hardcover)

Jeffrey Toobin has no doubt that O. J. Simpson killed his wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Therefore, the driving question of the book is not "did he commit the crime?", the question is "why was he acquitted?". Toobin's thesis grows out of local Los Angeles history as well as national U. S. history. Los Angeles is a microcosm of the United States because it is a city, just as ours is a nation, divided along racial lines. Toobin's study makes it quite clear that what is at issue in this divide, more than opportunity, more than economics, more than political clout, is trust. Distrust runs deep between the races. In Los Angeles, this distrust defined the jury and shaped the jury's verdict. Toobin explores how the defense formulated a strategy to exploit this racial divide and how the prosecution minimized or ignored how feelings and perceptions borne of racial identity would effect this trial. As the familiar story unfolds, Toobin details the prosecution's very strong case against Simpson. For the prosecution, the crime was in the details: hairs, fibers, blood drops, blood smears, gloves, footprints. But could this jury trust the gatherers and interpreters of this evidence? No. They didn't trust the police, criminalists, or lab technicians. They didn't trust Marcia Clark. They didn't trust a system of police and prosecution and the reason was historical racial mistreatment. Yes, Toobin examines the conflicts between attorneys. He examines the performance of Lance Ito. He evaluates the attorneys' performances on both sides. But what he does best is illuminate the insidious consequences of of our country's long history of racial mistreatment. In this case, argues Toobin, a murderer walked free.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Books on the Simpson Trial, September 15, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson (Hardcover)

I had read an review that said that there was nothing new in this book. Despite that I bought the book, and was very plesantly surprised to find it to be the best and most complete book of anything I have read on the OJ trial. From a description of the arrogrance and ego of the defense team to the inempitude and occasional brilliance of Darden, I found it very multi-dimensional and fascinating reading. The best part of the book was his two line description of how OJ lost his Beverly Hills/West LOs Angeles contigent of friends after the DNA's evidence was presented. It appears that there truly is a god