Product Description

"The Paper Chase" was widely acclaimed as the first novel to realistically describe the experience of students within American Law Schools.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213640 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 249 pages

About the Author
John Jay Osborn Jr

Customer Reviews

A great read
I first read this book about 20 years ago and must have re-read it a dozen times. This new anniversary edition is beautifully presented and has a very easy read text. The story is that of a gifted law student, John Hart, who takes us through the ups and downs of life as a first year law student at Harvard University. The book led to a film, a play and then a successful TV series.

Hart, although certainly gifted, is still young and vulnerable. He is fascinated by one of his professors, Kingsfield, whom he places on a pedestal at an early stage and this is a touch problematic when Hart begins a relationship with the Professor's daughter. As the work piles up we see that some students fall by the wayside and tempers occasionally flare.

This is a story of love, ambition, and survival. It tells us about the long nights of study, the pressures of exams, and the strains that friendships can suffer from in the process. It is a book that you can read again and again and take away something a little different each time. It is a tremendous read and the film is apparently required viewing at nearly every law school in America!

The anniversary edition also comes with alternative endings to various scenes in the book that the author for one reason or another decided not to go with; they make interesting reading.

Synopsis from back cover
The Paper Chase will take you right inside the famous Harvard Law School. Beyond the students picnicking on the lawns and into the fine old buildings to meet Hart and his fellow students.

Hart is a boy from the Mid-West, clever and ambitious, caught up in the cut-throat competition, the agony and the ecstasy of impending exams and the extraordinary spell of Professor Kingsfield. And tangled up with all this is Susan, the enigmatic girl who first fascinates Hart, then captivates him completely. The professor's daughter she stands aloof from the law-school rat-race and is able to dismiss all the things Hart cares about most, except perhaps himself.