The Best Lawyer in a One-Lawyer Town: A Memoir (Hardcover)

by Dale Bumpers (Author) "Men in Panama hats and corseted women waving fans provided courtesy of the local funeral home were still dripping sweat..." (more)
Key Phrases: pool hall owner, Little Rock, United States, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Former Arkansas governor Bumpers served in the Senate for 24 years and is currently with a Washington law firm. However, this witty book indicates he may have a new career as a humorist on the printed page. Born in 1925, he grew up in tiny, poverty-stricken Charleston, Ark., where his father ran the Charleston Hardware and Funeral Home. He paints an affectionate yet haunting portrait of smalltown, Depression-era American family life. Bumpers has had a long, eventful life, but his amusing anecdotes and razor-sharp recollections of the 1930s and '40s are the most appealing portions of this engrossing memoir. He made extra money picking cotton, peas and potatoes, and at 15, started working at a grocery store and began dating his future wife. "I smelled like a goat barn from cleaning the meat box, and Betty's devotion got tested every Saturday night," he remembers. A WWII Marine, Bumpers was at Northwestern Law on the GI Bill in 1949 when his parents were killed in a car crash. "Flat broke" after graduation, he returned to Charleston, took over the family business and became the town's only lawyer. Although he "had no idea of how to begin practicing law... no office, no library, no clients," his career eventually took off. These charming tales from a country lawyer turned national politician are thoroughly enjoyable. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The usually smart-mouthed Norman Mailer observes, "How agreeable to read a serious politician's memoir and find it as full of wit, bite, scorn, compassion, and insight as Dale Bumpers himself," so this memoir must be good.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Random House (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375505210
• ISBN-13: 978-0375505218
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,209,499 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bumpers at his best, February 25, 2003

By	William F Harrison (Fayetteville, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dale Bumpers is 10 tears older than I, but given that rural Arkansas small town life was similar from the turn of the century until about to mid 1950s, our boyhood experiences were not disimilar. Bumpers tells his story anecdotally, the way he speaks. It is written with a sharp wit, frequently pointed at himself. It is intelligent, articulate and exactly what one would expect from one of, if not the very best of this nation's senators in the second half of the 20th century. Bumpers was always honest, usually truthful - always hard for a lawyer :-) - and always respectful in his dealing with his constituents. Bumpers, like his predessor, William Fulbright, never suffered fools lightly, and given that he was surrounded by them toward the end of his senate career, it is easy to see why he ended his senate career as a relatively young man - by senate standards. Bumpers never directly answers a question that many who followed his career always wondered about - why did he never run for president? - given that he would have been an exceptionally attractive democratic candidate. One hint he gives us is that he never enjoyed being governor. He always said that one reason he didn't run at one propituous time was that he had a bad knee. However, given the fact that his greatest political model, FDR, who had consumed American politics during his formative years and who he once saw on a presidential trip through Arkansas, (...couldn't even walk" which is a paraphrase of the name of one of his chapters) was handicapped to a far greater extent, it seems odd that a man of Bumper's physical and moral courage never made the race. It may have been that he was unwilling to spend the time and make the moral compromises necessary to raise the obscene amonts of money necesary to make a legitimate bid for a major party nomination, or he may have been put off by the vicious nature of presidential campaigning that developed during the last 20 years, or it may have been that he just refused to put his family under the national media spotlight in which every flaw and weakness is exploited by a modern press following the orders of an every decreasing number of usually right wing owners, producers and publishers. Whatever the reason, the nation lost a master politician who might have changed to course of history. This is his story in his words. A wonderful read. wfh

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Unique Political Memoir, June 13, 2003

By	Tim Kidd (Plover, WI United States) - See all my reviews

I can't say how many political biographies/autobiographies I've read (suffice to say, a lot!), but a few years ago I grew tired of the genre. All too often, these books contain a lot of smug congratulatory prose, assuring the reader that politician X's impact on the nation was unsurpassed.

Not so with Bumpers' book. I was instantly struck by the genuine humility of the author. Bumpers speaks from the heart, and in a very personable manner (I often felt that he was relating this whole memoir to me personally over a cup of coffee). Furthermore, his memoir does not just focus on his political career.

The first half of the book covers Bumpers life before politics. Weaving together dozens of personal anecdotes, Bumpers takes the reader through life in a small Arkansas town in the depression era. These stories are heart-wrenching, and yet often humorous. Naturally, Bumpers ties these sad tales into his liberal, welfare-state political views. And yet, he's neither preachy nor overbearing. Readers may or may not agree with Bumpers' politics; but they cannot deny his sincerity.

The chapters directly relating to Bumpers' political career offer a brief yet fascinating look at recent Arkansas history. One learns of the state's tough progression away from segregation and of two less than stellar governors, Orval Faubus and Winthrop Rockefeller. No doubt Bumpers is a little biased here (since he ran against both of them), but he does not denigrate them (or anyone else) for having different views than him.

The last chapters briefly discuss Bumpers' 24 year Senate career; and end, appropriately, with his eloquent defense of President Clinton during the impeachment trial. This speech doesn't read as well as it was spoken, says Bumpers; but it reads pretty well at that! I was too sickened by the whole charade to watch any of the impeachment trial at the time. So Bumpers speech was new for me and only reinforced my beliefs on the issue.

All in all, Bumpers book is witty, mostly light-hearted and never boring. Whether you're looking for a brief look at life in the south during the depression or want to know more about this fascinating man, pick it up.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excelleny recollection of youthful days in depression era, March 12, 2003

By	B Hunkler (Barnesville, Oh) - See all my reviews

Almost the entire first half of this bio deals with Bumpers youth in Depression-era rural Arkansas. Written in a graceful and page tuning style it captures the essence of a different time and space in our country's history.
I would rank it right up there with Russell Bakers GROWING UP.