The run of his life

As a native Californian, O.J.'s arrest, and the slow-speed Bronco chase that preceded it, while I was in college is something I'll always remember. I had also always been mystified why, in the face of overwhelming and indisputable eyewitness, circumstantial, and conclusive physical evidence (the victims' blood was found at O.J.'s house!) the jury let O.J. walk. This book does a great job of unraveling this mystery. Toobin isn't some tabloid hack, he's a writer for the New Yorker who wrote contemporaneously about the O.J. trial. He eloquently sets up the details and character studies that illuminate why the jury chose to let a violent murderer off the hook. It's an entertaining read that meticulously sets out Toobin's assessment of the facts, based on extensive research and personal observation. It's also a great case for the idea that you really can buy your way of a double-murder conviction.

A well-written book of reporting on what happened during the murder & trial, and how O.J. got away with it.

The O.J. murder spectacle was so much bigger than a criminal trial gone awry, though: it was a myth-in-progress that played powerful music on the strings of the collective unconscious. Toobin mostly leaves this aspect out of his story, sticking to a just-the-facts-ma’am recounting of the evidence. I thought that was too bad, but for what the book does do, it does it well.