An informal portrait of Justice Ginsburg, drawing on a series of her conversations with Rosen, starting in the 1990s and continuing through the Trump era. Rosen, a veteran legal journalist, scholar, and president of the National Constitution Center, shares with readers the justice's observations on a variety of topics, and her intellect, compassion, sense of humor, and humanity shine through.
To read Conversations with RBG is to listen in on a dialogue between Rosen and Justice Ginsburg. The conversation is an engaging rapport, evidencing years of friendship between the two. Their first conversation occurred in an elevator in the US Court of Appeals courthouse in 1991, when Justice Ginsburg was Judge Ginsburg, a Circuit Court judge, and Rosen was a law clerk. Rosen asked Justice Ginsburg — whom he describes as a formidable presence who maintained a sphinxlike silence — about the opera. That conversation was the first of many about the opera, and as the title of the book promises, life, love, liberty, the law ... Rosen’s warm friendship with Justice Ginsburg emanates from the pages. That he has conducted a series of interviews with her — in addition to his friendship with the Justice — in contrast to a single, stand-alone interview provides a unique insight to his questioning as the interviewer.
Drawn from eight public and private interviews conducted over the past decade, these candid and often deeply personal conversations provide insight into the life of a woman who has gracefully navigated the roles of passionate advocate, discerning judge and loving wife and mother ... His questions in this book are well-informed but friendly, designed to draw out the naturally diffident Ginsburg rather than to provoke controversy ... Rosen provides a brief introduction in each chapter and then proceeds in a question and answer format to explore the pertinent topic ... an enlightening look at her vital contribution to that process.
George Washington University law professor Rosen shines a flattering light on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this discerning work ... Rosen’s helpful notes and straightforward interview style allow Ginsburg’s exceptional legal mind to take center stage. The justice’s many admirers, as well as readers interested in constitutional law, will find this book to be full of valuable insights.
