To mark its 100-year anniversary, the American Civil Liberties Union partners with award-winning authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman to bring together many of our greatest living writers, each contributing an original piece inspired by a historic ACLU case.
On January 19, 1920, a small group of idealists and visionaries, including Helen Keller, Jane Addams, Roger Baldwin, and Crystal Eastman, founded the American Civil Liberties Union. A century after its creation, the ACLU remains the nations premier defender of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
In collaboration with the ACLU, authors Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman have curated an anthology of essays about landmark cases in the organizations one-hundred-year history. Fight of the Century takes you inside the trials and the stories that have shaped modern life. Some of the most prominent cases that the ACLU has been involved inBrown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Miranda v. Arizonaneed little introduction. Others you may never even have heard of, yet their outcomes quietly defined the world we live in now. Familiar or little-known, each case springs to vivid life in the hands of the acclaimed writers who dive into the history, narrate their personal experiences, and debate the questions at the heart of each issue.
Hector Tobar introduces us to Ernesto Miranda, the felon whose wrongful conviction inspired the now-iconic Miranda rightswhich the police would later read to the man suspected of killing him. Yaa Gyasi confronts the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, in which the ACLU submitted a friend of- the-court brief questioning why a nation that has sent men to the moon still has public schools so unequal that they may as well be on different planets. True to the ACLUs spirit of principled dissent, Scott Turow offers a blistering critique of the ACLUs stance on campaign finance.
These powerful stories, along with essays from Neil Gaiman, Meg Wolitzer, Salman Rushdie, Ann Patchett, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Louise Erdrich, George Saunders, and many more, remind us that the issues the ACLU has engaged over the past one hundred years remain as vital as ever today, and that we can never take our liberties for granted.
Chabon and Waldman are donating their advance to the ACLU and the contributors are forgoing payment.
Recenzijas
"Compelling . . . [ A] powerful, inspiring collection." The Christian Science Monitor
"Forceful, beautifully written and often humorous . . . The essays in Fight of the Century may be brief, but each packs a mighty wallop. . . . This is a book to read, share and keep." Associated Press
"Full of struggle, emotion, fear, resilience, hope, and triumph." Los Angeles Review of Books Moving . . . Entertaining . . . Its enlightening to watch some of our most masterly literary portraitists restore the warts and wardrobes, the motivations and machinations to those whose stories have been stripped down to surnames or pseudonyms. Monica Youn, New York Times Book Review
"Vigorous, informative, and well-organized, this outstanding collection befits the ACLUs substantial impact on American law and society." Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A stunning collection of original and topical essays . . . [ that] vividly brings consequential court cases to life." Booklist (starred review) "A finely edited almanac of lively, contextually grounded stories that read like the greatest hits of freedom . . . Provides insights that are both riveting and refreshingly diverse." Kirkus Reviews
| Introduction |
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xiii | |
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| Foreword |
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xvii | |
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Viet Thanh Nguyen On Stromberg v. California (1931) |
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1 | (5) |
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Jacqueline Woodson On Powell v. Alabama (1932) and Patterson v. Alabama (1935) |
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6 | (5) |
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Michael Chabon On United States v. One Book Called "Ulysses" (1933) |
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11 | (13) |
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Ann Patchett On Edwards v. California (1941) |
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24 | (5) |
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Brit Bennett On West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) |
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29 | (5) |
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Steven Okazaki On Korematsu v. United States (1944) |
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34 | (6) |
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Daniel Handler On Hannegan v. Esquire (1946) |
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40 | (4) |
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Geraldine Brooks On Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949) |
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44 | (5) |
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Yaa Gyasi On Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) |
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49 | (8) |
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Sergio De La Pava On Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) |
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57 | (9) |
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Dave Eggers On Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) |
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66 | (5) |
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Timothy Egan On New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) |
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71 | (6) |
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Yiyun Li On Lamont v. Postmaster General (1965) |
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77 | (5) |
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Meg Wolitzer On Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) |
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82 | (4) |
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Hector Tobar On Miranda v. Arizona (1966) |
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86 | (7) |
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Aleksandar Hemon On Loving v. Virginia (1967) |
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93 | (7) |
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Elizabeth Strout On Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) |
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100 | (5) |
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Adrian Nicole Leblanc On Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969) |
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105 | (7) |
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Rabih Alameddine On Street v. New York (1969) |
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112 | (6) |
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Moriel Rothman-Zecher On Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) |
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118 | (10) |
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Jonathan Lethem On Cohen v. California (1971) |
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128 | (5) |
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Salman Rushdie On New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) |
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133 | (5) |
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Lauren Groff On Roe v. Wade (1973) and Doe v. Bolton (1973) |
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138 | (7) |
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Ayelet Waldman On O'Connor v. Donaldson (1975) |
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145 | (7) |
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Jennifer Egan On Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975) |
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152 | (6) |
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Scott Turow On Buckley v. Valeo (1976) |
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158 | (8) |
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Morgan Parker On Bob Jones University v. United States (1983) |
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166 | (17) |
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Victor Lavalle On Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City ofHialeah (1993) |
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183 | (6) |
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Michael Cunningham On Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995) |
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189 | (7) |
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Neil Gaiman On Reno v. ACLU (1997) and Ashcroft v.ACLU (2004) |
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196 | (9) |
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Jesmyn Ward On City of Chicago v. Morales (1999) |
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205 | (8) |
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Moses Sumney On Zadvydas v. Davis (2001) |
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213 | (11) |
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George Saunders On Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr (2001) |
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224 | (13) |
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Marlon James On Lawrence v. Texas (2003) |
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237 | (6) |
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William Finnegan On Rasul v. Bush (2004) |
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243 | (9) |
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Anthony Doerron Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005) |
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252 | (11) |
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Charlie Jane Anders On Schroer v. Billington (2008) |
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263 | (5) |
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Brenda J. Child On Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (2013) |
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268 | (12) |
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Andrew Sean Greer On United States v. Windsor (2013) |
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280 | (6) |
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Louise Erdrich On ACLUv. United States Department of Defense, et al. (2018) |
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286 | (7) |
| Acknowledgments |
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293 | (2) |
| The Contributors |
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295 | (8) |
| Copyright Credits |
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303 | |
Michael Chabon is the bestselling and Pulitzer Prizewinning author of many books, including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemens Union, Gentlemen of the Road, Telegraph Avenue, Moonglow, Pops, and the picture book The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man. He is the editor, with Ayelet Waldman, of Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation.
Ayelet Waldman is the author of the memoir, A Really Good Day, as well as of novels including Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road, and Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. She is the editor of Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women's Prisons, and with Michael Chabon, of Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation.
Other contributors include: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jacqueline Woodson, Michael Chabon, Ann Patchett, Brit Bennett, Steven Okazaki, Daniel Handler, Geraldine Brooks, Yaa Gyasi, Sergio De La Pava, Dave Eggers, Timothy Egan, Yiyun Li, Meg Wolitzer, Hector Tobar, Aleksandar Hemon, Elizabeth Strout, Nicole Adrian LeBlanc, Rabih Alameddine, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Jonathan Lethem, Salman Rushdie, Lauren Groff, Ayelet Waldman, Jennifer Egan, Scott Turow, Morgan Parker, Victor LaValle, Michael Cunningham, Neil Gaiman, Jesmyn Ward, George Saunders, Marlon James, William Finnegan, Anthony Doerr, Charlie Jane Anders, Brenda J. Childs, Andrew, Sean Greer, Francisco Goldman, and Louise Erdrich.
