From Publishers Weekly
Kim Pring of Cheyenne, a national baton-twirling champion, was a contestant in the 1979 Miss America pageant. Shortly thereafter, a story appeared in Penthouse magazine about a fictional baton-twirling Miss Wyoming who excelled at fellatio. Pring hired Spence, a well-known trial lawyer and author of Gunning for Justice, etc., to undertake a libel suit against the magazine. This book is the story of that trial and its subsequent appeals. Citing parallels throughout, going back to the 1487 Malleus Malificarum on the punishment of witches, Spence argues that women are still treated as sexually menacing repositories of evil and that society enjoys their victimization. Serious questions are raised by the Pring case, including what constitutes a public figure and whether fiction can be libelous. But Spence's book is too verbose and inundated with hyperbole and metaphor to effectively make his case, and no matter that his client was ultimately awarded some $25 million. 50,000 first printing. (June 30
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Spence, famous for his victory in the Karen Silkwood case, offers here his view of the legal maneuverings in the 1981 suit of his client Kim Pring, a former Miss Wyoming, against Penthouse for libel. Because of the nature of the case, the subject of Pring's chastity overshadowed the libel question. Spence's involvement with this issue is more emotional than intellectual. He is neither the first nor the most eloquent observer of sexual inequities in our system of justice. Still, a review of the problem has value, especially in the context of this trial. Spence also discusses corporate manipulation of the legal system. His tone is overly pious, however, and valid points are overwhelmed by prose that would seem more appropriate in a TV movie script. Primarily for larger public libraries. Susan E. Parker, Tufts Univ. Lib., Medford, Mass.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
