Two New Clarence Darrow Biographies Released; One Details a ‘Callous Streak’
(Photos courtesy of publishers MacMillan and Doubleday.)
Two new Clarence Darrow biographies offer different takes on the famous lawyer who represented union organizer Eugene Debs, accused teen-age murderers Leopold and Loeb, and school teacher John Scopes.
A New York Times review highlights the differences. In one book, Clarence Darrow: American Iconoclast, Andrew Kersten focuses on Darrow’s idealism and his dedication to overturning social structures that interfere with freedoms.
In the other book, Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned, John Farrell agrees that Darrow championed personal liberty, but he also argues that Darrow thought of law as sport. The book portrays Darrow as a lawyer in rumpled suits and suspenders who “shamelessly seduced juries with his common man routine,” the Times says. In some cases, Darrow paid for testimony, and in 1911 he was charged with bribing a juror. He hired an anti-union conservative to represent him.
The book also details a “callous streak” in Darrow’s personal life, the Times says. He divorced his first wife for her lack of sophistication, and cheated on his second wife.
According to a review by the Washington Independent, Kersten “brings a sharp academic eye” to the events and “lets the story shine through.” The Farrell book manages to “expose the human dynamic, the core conflicts and underhanded courtroom tricks, as well as the deeper national issues at stake,” the Independent says.
