If you somehow haven’t yet acquired The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law for yourself—co-edited by Sixth Circuit judge Jeffrey S. Sutton and me, and featuring a beautiful foreword by Justice Elena Kagan—and haven’t yet given it as a gift to many of your friends and loved ones, be assured that it’s not too late.
Here’s some of the praise that The Essential Scalia has received:
Justice Kagan (from her foreword): “I envy the reader who has picked up this book, as I once picked up those opinions, not knowing what he or she will find…. [I]n these last few years, I have missed the enjoyment and excitement—even the exasperation—that came from thinking about Nino’s latest opinion. I doubt that anyone who turns the final page of this book will wonder why.”
Judge William Pryor: “What makes this book so valuable and entertaining is the writer’s skill. Scalia’s rhetoric was so powerful because it was accessible and jargon-free…. Justice Scalia was playing the long game. And even if too few law professors will assign their students his best opinions as reading material, you can do your part by sharing with them this latest and perhaps most subversive collection.
Jack Goldsmith: “an extraordinary collection of Justice Scalia’s legal writings—the best introduction to his legal thought.”
Yuval Levin: “Watching [Scalia’s] mind at work is a joy,” “fantastic,” “an education in Americanism, and in the distinct and central place that the law and the Constitution have in the life of our republic.”
Bryan Garner: “The Essential Scalia … is the best one-volume compendium of the Justice’s erudition and wit. It won’t be bested.”
Paul Clement: “The book will be especially illuminating to anyone who wants to unlock the mystery of why Ginsburg admired Scalia—or who wants to get a sense of where the Supreme Court may be headed.”
John McGinnis: “essential for anyone who studies law,” “beyond its theoretical interest, The Essential Scalia is great fun because Scalia was undoubtedly the wittiest Supreme Court justice in history.”
Mark Pulliam: “The curated excerpts from opinions, articles, and speeches read like essays, allowing Scalia’s distinctive voice to ring clearly without distraction. They are a joy to read.”
Matthew Continetti: “What comes across most … is the quality of Scalia’s writing. It is clear, direct, witty, lapidary, memorable…. These aren’t [just] judicial decisions. They are essays. And like great literature they will reverberate far into the future.”
And I’ve just learned of this fine new review by Northwestern law professor Stephen B. Presser, which praises The Essential Scalia as a “laudable anthology” that “makes clear why” Justice Scalia “lives on in the hearts of Justice Barrett and his many other admirers.”