Trial of Abigail Goodman [Audio Cassette]

Howard Fast (Author), Diane Ladd (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

Fast offers a tale about the harrowing legal battle faced by a woman who exercises her right to choose. 4 cassettes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The veteran author of some 50 books ( Citizen Tom Paine ; The Immigrants , etc.) stays up to date in a fast-paced, often electrifying novel dramatizing the abortion controversy. Sometime in the near future, Abigail Goodman, feminist history professor in a sleepy Southern town and 41-year-old mother of two, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant; she decides, with her husband's approval, to have an abortion. Shortly thereafter, she is indicted under a new state law that retroactively makes abortion after the first trimester an act of murder punishable by death. Fast is a master of courtroom pyrotechnics, and sparks fly when the defense team grills the ambitious DA's star witnesses: a Catholic bishop, a Hasidic rabbi and an obstetrician who once performed abortions. Though the sensational trial gives full play to both sides, the author's sympathies obviously lie with his forthright, brave and nervous heroine, who views the law as a weapon in men's campaign to subjugate women. Fast intersperses the main narrative with dispatches from U.S. and foreign journalists' coverage of the trial and attendant redneck violence which, if not always realistic, do provide a global perspective on what he sees as America's parochial attitude toward abortion.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

That robustly persistent booster of the cause of civil liberties and the brotherhood of man, and author of over 80 published works (most recently, Being Red, 1990), now takes on the cause of women's rights--specifically the right to choose abortion- -and produces a lively courtroom drama, set in an unnamed southern state. A 41-year-old professor, having (presumably) had an abortion, is on trial for her life as a newly minted law makes abortion a crime punishable by death. ``Yesterday we were a sleepy backwater town. Today we're the hub of the universe,'' says presiding Judge George Lee Benson--a dream judge, hard as nails, fair, with a razor mind able to slice through windy detours and elaborate legal maneuvers. Outside the courtroom where Abigail Goodman is on trial are reporters from major foreign and American newspapers (they'll contribute sidebar versions of events). There are also bused-in activists from the pro's and con's. Meanwhile, Abigail, whose grandfather was a senator from the state, is represented by two friends--married couple Jack and Button Ridley--and by her husband, Bill, also a lawyer. They're joined by a New York attorney working pro bono, but he's then severely beaten and left for dead. (Possibly responsible is the anti-Semitism element about town.) Witnesses--clergy, doctors, and Abigail herself--are led out and into troubling unsolvable matters, both theological and medical, and often the judge summons lawyers into conference and snaps them to. The final breaking point in the trial will involve some fancy legal footwork before the case is buttoned up. The question raised here remains--whether the fierce anti- abortion movement is more angry for the sake of the unborn or at the emancipation of women. Fast, in any event, is donating profits from the book to Planned Parenthood. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: DH Audio; Unabridged edition (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088646353X
• ISBN-13: 978-0886463533
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,811,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book..., September 9, 2011

By 

Pat Kennedy "Crab Patty" (Virginia Beach) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trial of Abigail Goodman (G K Hall Large Print Book Series) (Library Binding)

I read this book years ago. I found it at the Dollar Tree. However, I found Howard Fast is now one of my very favorite writers. This book is so potentially possible with the politics going the way they are to the "Right". I truly believe in separation of Church and State. This brings the potential to the forefront, in an honest and gut wrenching novel. I felt so much compassion for Abigail and her dilemma. It scares me to think that we could ever become this type of crazed judgmental society. Freedom comes in many forms and the form of choice is so personal that we should each cherish it. I never want to see us return to the time when there were back alley procedures or worse yet, the coat hanger or other home-made solutions to an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. Yes, this is one of my hot buttons. Yes I also have a daughter. I hope this scenario of the book never comes true. I also think it should be re-released. Perhaps someone on the fence of choice v.s. no choice will see a different point if view.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Controversial and amazing, November 15, 2000

By 

anne johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trial of Abigail Goodman (Hardcover)

Written in 1993, this is the story of Professor Goodman, a 41 year old, married female with 2 grown children who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. She opts, after much thought, to terminate the pregnancy, only to find herself arrested a month later and charged under a new law that retroactively makes abortion a capital offense. The book's cover says this could really happen which is impossible to believe but certainly may be possible. The outcome of the story is a surprize, but nothing like what I expected. The DA was a dummy, but her defense team, naturally, brilliant. The Judge should have been presiding over the OJ trial. Read it, it's very good.