Customer Reviews

Wilkes His Life and Crimes

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the style of Dr. Watson, Schoonover has written an eyewitness account of his legal mentor Wilkes. This book is hilarious. Having practiced law on occasion in the New York criminal courts, I could not stop laughing. The book will be just as funny to non-lawyers, too. It's constant and not-so-subtle broadsides against the legal profession and the characters who haunt the criminal courts will appeal to all. (Sorry about that.) It is well worth the quick read, as is Wilkes on Trial, the sequel.

I just loved this book! As a practicing criminal defense attorney who also served 6 years on the bench let me just report that the stories in this book are more true than not. If you are looking for a great read and a bellyfull of laughs pick up this wonderful tome. My wife kicked me out of bed because I was laughing so loud (snorting and chortling as well) that she opined she couldn"t read her own book with me making all that noise.

One can either rage against the absurdities inherent in our system of justice or make fun of them, and Chuck Sevilla has chosen to do the latter in this wonderful, funny book. Venal clients, crazy judges, and the highs and lows of practicing law are all presented here in the story of John Wilkes, a fictional criminal defense attorney from New York City. I'm sorry to see this book out of print, because it should be required reading for every law student, lawyer, judge and anyone else with an interest in the rule of law. Give it a try.

This book has been the best book I've ever read, by far! The devious and conniving things one defense attorney will do to win will keep you entertained. In John Wilkes's quest for success, anyone or anything that gets in his way will NOT stop him. I would recommend this book to anyone with a decent sense of humor!

Absolutely wonderful. I couldn't put this book down. Wilkes is a tremendously clever lawyer who uses anything necessary to get his client's off. He badmouths judges, the system, and doesn't pull punches on any subject! It's one of those novels that you'll miss the stop on the train because you can't lift your head to look up!

This is one of the best books I have ever read! I couldn't put it down. It had me laughing to the point of tears. If you like reading about the judicial system (mainly how screwed up it is) this is the book for you!

This is the original serial of the legal adventures of New York lawyer John Wilkes, the rogue attorney who makes disorder in the court the order of the day. True to form, Wilkes' cases involve representing the down and uptrodden, all of whom are entertaining, but none more so than Wilkes. The highlight of the book is when Wilkes locks horns with Hizoner Judge Joseph Blugeot, in whose court only a kangaroo would feel at home -- Winston Schoonove

Chuck Sevilla, who is one of the best appellate lawyers in America, wrote this book in the late 1980's and it's still funny today. If you know of anyone who works as a criminal defense lawyer, give him or her this book for Christmas. It's hilarious.

I really like the two books about the legendary defense attorney John Wilkes. Wilkes on Trial is a fast, focused read that goes by quickly. This book is even more absurd and flamboyant than Wilkes on Trial, but because it really is a rolling narrative of loosely connected cases, it gets a bit long. I'll never forget the episode where Wilkes is thrown into The Tombs and quickly assumes the role of a PLO terrorist during a riot in the prison, but that was the funniest part of the book and it occurred in the first 100 pages.

If you really like high farce and low satire, ala Daniel Defoe, then you'll love this book and I have not given it enough stars. If you want to experience fictional broadsides against our justice system, you'll also like this book. I just wish his editor had dropped one or two of the cases covered and made this a shorter book. I love the first half, but found the second to be too much rehash.

Wilkes is just one of those guys that kind of explains where all of those lawyer jokes come from. You just have to admire his style and I can't imagine any attorney reading this and not quoting something from it later on.