Customer Reviews

Whose Monet? An Introduction to the American Legal System (Introduction to Law Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I direct a law school academic support program and have read most if not all introduction to law-type books. This is the best of the genre. I did not find the grammatical problems discussed by another reviewer to be excessive or distracting. Sadly, they may not even be noticeable to many first year law students. With respect to the repetition of certain concepts that has also be complained of, I say great! During the first semester of law school repetition of foundational concepts is desirable and probably essential. I found it useful to have similar discussions of the same concepts at different points in the book.

The author of Whose Monet? was my first-year property law professor. My entering law school class was assigned this book before it even became an actual, published book. I remember reading it before law school, and then using it as a basis for classes during orientation. It also frequently came up during all three years of law school, as it was something the professors knew we had all read, and it had many themes that were relevant in other classes. I highly recommend Whose Monet? to be used as part of an introduction to law school and the legal process. Whether used in orientation, or in a class, it is a great tool for the first-year law student.

The case that forms the basis of this text, DeWeerth v. Baldinger, is interesting, but the rest of it drags. I was significantly bored, for example, during the somewhat repititious discussion of common law in chapter 7, though perhaps this is just the nature of the material. Making things worse, however, are the grammatical errors and typos. My conservative estimate is at least 30 errors, more than I have ever encountered in a published text. Some of them appear to be caused by a lazy copy editor using spellcheck ("We has a general household insurance policy...", pp. 227). Others are just ridiculous, for example, "impressssionistic" on page 193. They are quite distracting, and are sometimes downright confusing, making the task of being attentive to the dry material more difficult.

I liked the book. It was a good introduction to law school. It reads more like a book then a textbook. I am guessing anyone here has to read this book for a class instead of for fun, but its worth the money.

The book was in good condition and arrived on time.I could not ask for anything more in regards to this order!

For pre-law students, a thorough explanation of a complex case. Students should know that law is not easy and that legal reasoning can range far. Experienced lawyer can benefit also.

Great for students in college who are taking a law class and for anyone interested in going to law school. A must read for those starting law school!