SAMPLE: Book Review.  Reprinted with permission from Legal Information Alert November/December 1999.  © All rights reserved.

 

 

Citation:  Feminist Jurisprudence, Women and the Law:  Critical Essays, Research Agenda, and Bibliography.  Betty Taylor, Sharon Rush, & Robert J. Munro.  1999.  Fred B. Rothman & co. for William S. Hein & Co., Inc.  ISBN 0-8377-1224-6.

 

 

       This ambitious work began as an attempt to construct an academic research bibliography.  Approximately two thirds of the book’s 1,100 pages consists of essays by prominent feminist scholars such as Judith Resnick and Carrie Menkel-Meadow.  These essays cover a vast range of subject matter, both general (such as feminist jurisprudence) and specific (such as feminist tort scholarship).  Some essays were written specifically for the book; others are reprinted by permission.

 

       The remainder of the book contains an impressive bibliography listing thousands of articles on various feminist issues, followed by a brief index.  At least some of the articles appear to have been chosen by the essays’ authors.

 

       The scope of this book is nothing short of epic.  The authors have gathered an astonishing amount of information in one place.  Furthermore, the essays offer an excellent overview of the field of feminist jurisprudence, despite the fact that the collection of essays as a whole lacks a consistent, consolidating theme.

 

       Unfortunately, the massive size of the bibliography creates problems of its own, problems that the authors and publishers have failed to address adequately.  Thus, despite the grand reach of this extraordinary work, its usefulness as an efficient finding aid is severely limited. 

 

       First, while the bibliography is organized by topic, the topic headings do not consistently parallel the topics in the essay protion of the book.  Thus, in some cases, readers will have to search the table of contents for guidance.  The bibliography would have been much more useful had the authors either used the same topic divisions throughout the book or organized the bibliography to correspond to specific articles.

 

       Second, several topic divisions in the bibliography are too broad.  For example, the listing of articles on constitutional law spans seventeen pages and includes both general constitutional jurisprudence and specific issues such as affirmative action.  With approximately twenty cites per page, finding an article relevant to a particular topic is likely to be time-consuming.

 

       Finally, although the bibliography is organized alphabetically by topic, the topic headings are not listed at the top of each page.  Thus, one must leave backward to find signposts.  This may seem like a minor problem, but in a work of this size, it proves a significant irritant.

 

       Despite these problems, the book does have value.  This volume has important potential for professors or law students who wish to meander through the field of feminist jurisprudence, letting the book lead where it may.  Such readers will enjoy the journey, provided they understand that it is likely to be a leisurely one.