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Burrough on Mahler: Writing, not reporting, is key

By Mark Obbie

The Times Book Review assigned a heavyweight journalist to review the latest book by a journalist on law in the war on terror. But reviewer Bryan Burrough is so fixated on storytelling technique that I barely learned anything about the substance of Jonathan Mahler's The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power. Burrough writes that he "wanted an aria, and all that’s on the page is a terribly intricate and somber hymn." Well, as a reader of the review, I wanted to know more than just whether it's a pleasure to read. What new light does Mahler shed on the Hamdan case? And on his much-documented legal team? No way to know based on Burrough's telling. I didn't fare much better reading Seth Lipsky's review in the New York Sun, which compares the book favorably to Tony Lewis' Gideon's Trumpet but also lacks perspective on what new facts the book brings to the table. Guess I might just have to break down and read it myself. I'm not afraid of an occasional legal-reporting hymn.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on August 10, 2008 (boomark / email).