The Run of His Life : The People versus O. J. Simpson - Softcover

Now out in paperback (with a new chapter on the civil trial), and still at the head of the very crowded class of O. J. books, this isn't just a book for O. J. junkies; it's a book for anyone who wants to understand how the criminal justice system breaks down. Toobin, a former prosecutor, chronicles the great and small things that led to what he views as a miscarriage of justice, such as the prosecution's courting of the media, which took the grand jury out of the process and forced a preliminary hearing in which the defense got an unnecessarily good peek at the case; Marcia Clark's decision to ignore a high-powered (and pro bono) jury consultant's advice and to go instead with her "gut"; and Chris Darden's impetuous and unilateral decision to have Simpson try on the gloves. Of course, there was also a jury that utterly failed to deliberate--Toobin reports that just after returning the verdict, one black juror explained her decision this way: "We've got to protect our own."

It has been the most closely-watched and controversial legal proceeding of our time, and Jeffrey Toobin has written the definite history of what has become the trial of the century. Here is the whole story of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and their aftermath, as it has never been told -- rich in character, driven by the nonstop plot of a legal thriller, and nuanced by the foibles, vanities, and idiosyncrasies of its participants. Featuring a new chapter on the O.J. Simpson civil trial, The Run of His Life -- hailed by The Wall Street Journal as "the pick of the litter" -- is a breathtakingly paced narrative that will long outlast the daily headlines.