Edited by the justice's son and one of his law clerks, this definitive collection of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's finest speeches covers topics as varied as the law, faith, virtue, pastimes, and his heroes and friends.
Christopher J. Scalia and Edward Whelan have given us a treasure that captures Justice Antonin Scalia’s brilliance, wit, faith, humility and wide range of knowledge. When I read this collection of his speeches, edited by the justice’s son and one of his law clerks, I feel like Scalia is in the room with me...anyone who wants to understand Scalia as a person and as a judicial philosopher should start by reading this book ... Because the book is a collection of speeches, many of which were given to lay people, it is very readable, understandable and fun for most age groups ... Scalia speaks in his own words in this magnificent volume that should be on the bookshelf of every educated American.
Reading Scalia Speaks — the marvelous collection of his speeches, lovingly compiled by his son and a former law clerk — brought Nino back to life for me. His words, even when read, are provocations to argue, disagree and think. They cannot be read passively. They cry out for dialogue. They demand answers — or surrender ... Liberal constitutional lawyers will continue to debate Justice Scalia many years after his death, because when it comes to jurisprudence, he was the most transformative jurist of our generation. His views cannot be ignored. That is his enduring legacy. But he was more than an influential justice. He was a great man, who lived life to the fullest ... Scalia Speaks gives us a glimpse of the man, as I came to know and respect him, despite — no, because of — our arguments.
Scalia’s brilliant writing and commitment to principle permeate Scalia Speaks ... The book supplies what Scalia’s judicial opinions could not: insight into the more fundamental set of principles that guided the man’s entire life. The speeches are divided into six sections, only one of which is devoted to the law. But it is the five other sections that are the most illuminating. Here we learn Scalia’s outlook on, among other things, character, friendship, education, sports, political philosophy and faith ... This marvelous book surely will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the mind of this great jurist and conservative thinker. But I would go further and say that it should be required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the mind of a great American, a figure so important to our history that his passing influenced the presidential election held months later. If Scalia Speaks can be said to have one fundamental flaw—one shared with the man’s life—it is that it ends too soon.
