Pocket versions of the Constitution of the United States of America abound, as do multi-volume commentaries, scholarly histories of its writing, and political posturings of various clauses. But what if you want a delightfully quick, witty, and readable reference that, in one compact volume, places the document and its clauses into context? You’re out of luck—until now. Written by Seth Lipsky, described in the Boston Globe as “a legendary figure in contemporary journalism,” The Citizen’s Constitution draws on the writings of the Founders, case law from our greatest judges, and current events in more than 300 illuminating annotations. Lipsky provides a no-nonsense, entertaining, and learned guide to the fundamental questions surrounding the document that governs how we govern our country. Every American should know the Constitution. Rarely has it glinted so brightly.
Seth Lipsky, the author of "The Citizen's Constitution: An Annotated Guide," has been described in the Boston Globe as "a legendary figure in contemporary journalism" and on TheAtlantic.com as possessing "the most interesting mind in journalism."
The founding editor of The New York Sun and, before that, of the Forward, Mr. Lipsky is a veteran of The Wall Street Journal, where was formerly foreign editor and a member of the editorial board. Mr. Lipsky was a private soldier in the United States Army and combat correspondent in Vietnam for Pacific Stars and Stripes.
The Citizen's Constitution is his third book. The first is an anthology he edited, "The Billion Dollar Bubble and Other Stories From the Asian Wall Street Journal." The second was "The Iconoclast," a collection of his humor columns for the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Lipsky is a member of the adjunct faculty of Columbia Journalism School and is a painter of portaits and landscapes. A graduate of Harvard College, he is married to the author Amity Shlaes. They have four children and reside at New York.
