The life and career of the controversial Supreme Court justice is the focus of this biography by Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Ken Foskett. Although Thomas did agree to some interviews with the author, this is not an authorized biography, but rather an independently-researched investigation into how events earlier in the jurist's life shaped his views today.
Critic Reviews
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Favorable
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PopMatters Lester Pimentel
You may not agree with Thomas after reading this book, but you might learn to understand him.
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly
While Foskett leaves no stone unturned in detailing Thomas's history, he occasionally is less effective at connecting the dots. [12 Jul 2004, p.58]
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Favorable
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The New Republic David J. Garrow
Foskett's hundreds of interviews with Thomas's family and friends allow him correctly to identify and to explain what appears to be the decisive turning point in Thomas's post-confirmation life, and that contribution alone marks this book as an important and overdue biography.
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Favorable
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Booklist Vernon Ford
The contradictions within Thomas' complex personality are fully on display in this absorbing biography, but readers are likely to remain mystified. [Aug 2004, p.1880]
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Favorable
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Chicago Sun-Times Mary Mitchell
In the end, Foskett has given readers keen insight into the burden carried by a black man who chooses to walk a path less traveled.
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Mixed
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Chicago Tribune Dennis J. Hutchinson
One of the most striking features of "Judging Thomas" is that two sitting members of the Supreme Court were willing to be quoted on the record about a sitting colleague.
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Mixed
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The New York Times Book Review Dahlia Lithwick
It's a story that raises more questions than it answers about how this life has informed and influenced Thomas's thinking.
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Unfavorable
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Washington Post Randall Kennedy
The absence of rigor that characterizes Foskett's approach to Thomas's jurisprudence also characterizes his approach to Thomas's racial politics.
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