Susan Estrich is an exceptionally bright, capable woman, a highly respected, widely published Harvard Law School professor (at one point, anyway). It's disappointing that this accomplished woman would buy into the myth that as a size 14 "blob" she is somehow less of a person than she is as a size 6 skinny-minnie. Estrich is right on point when she concedes that our society values beauty and thinness, but I didn't expect her to succumb to what she once thought were "harmful and sexist attitudes," to advise readers to paint their fingernails, seduce someone, and buy new underwear rather than eat.

Estrich's mission is to convince women that looking good and the quest for slimness are laudable goals. Refusing to acknowledge as much made her (the valedictorian turned law professor) feel "vain, foolish, and stupid in addition to fat." Her efforts are are directed toward becoming more physically attractive -- any concerns for health and nutrition are secondary.

This book perpetuates the myth that a woman's worth depends on her weight. It does contain some tried-and-true diet advice, but a truly smart woman would seek guidance from Weight Watchers, not a law professor with a self-esteem issue.

I see from other reviews, that many readers agree with me. This book finally gave me incentive and tools to lose weight. If you commit yourself to Susan's plan and shtick, you will too. I think it's well researched. Though not a doctor or nutritionist, Susan has tried almost every diet herself. My diet is now almost fat free, full of fruits, vegetables, and more lean protein. I use my "inner lawyer" to make the case for maintaining my new thin body! It's such a kick to be thin after many years of feeling I had to accept that age and weight-gain went hand-in-hand. Working-out was not enough. As Susan says, "You are fat because you don't eat right, and don't exercize enough for YOU."

I get up every day, when I don't want to. I go to work for 10 the 14 hours and I invest millions and millions of dollars for my clients, there life savings. I'm 35 years of age. I own my own home, I drive a luxury car and I make more money than most men. But, I can't say "NO" to a donut or a muffin? I can't order a piece of grilled chicken instead of a hamburger or a pizza? This is just crazy and Susan Estrich's book, "Making A Case for Yourself, A Diet Book for Smart Women" will bring you to reality. You want to lose weight? You can eat cabbage soup and fruit for just 3 days. You want to look like that picture you have of yourself in your mind? Then as Susan Estrich says, "I don't eat donuts"! Make a case for yourself, and to give yourself a little push with a great deal of humor and reality, read this book!

i thought this was a great book. but potential
customers should realize two possibly surprising details:

1. although the categoriztion on the back lists it as
"politics/women studies," it's a very autobiographical book.
this is not at all a bad thing. estrich has lead a very
interesting, very noteworthy life. but don't expect a
scholarly study on women and power in business.

2. estrich takes digs on "fat" people (which she defines
as size 14, hence the quotation marks). although in some
ways a brilliant and important feminist, she can
be just as catty and shallow in some respects as
old white men. be forewarned. it comes late in the book, after
she's endeared herself to you, and it is deeply disappointing.

Estrich makes some very good points in this book, but leaves one critical factor out. Women who do make it to the top not only don't mentor other women - they forget to put a little "personal publicity" into their career plans! It's always the "first woman" here, and the "first woman" there. Being first only lasts as long as making the "first mistake" which also hits the business page headlines. Achieving corporate and community visibility needs a consistent and planned effort. To really take charge of your career, whether you are still climbing the so-called ladder, or have reached the top rungs - there is no substitute for creating a strategic 'personal' publicity plan. Your boss won't do it, and neither will your mentor (if you have one!). It is up to YOU. People have to know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should hire you, promote you, or do business with you. That's really taking charge of your career.

I'm 21 and just about to start working toward a PhD in business and I had never realized that that so many women felt the desire to put their career on the back burner in order to have a family. I've always known I didn't want that left, but I never realized what implications the notion of being a potential "mommy" would have for me as I go forward.
This is a great book for anyone who wants to know about women and getting ahead in today's society.

Rape laws in America - indeed, the whole origin of rape law in criminal law - fail to protect the victims. Prof. Estrich's book is only 'radical' if you consider it radical to suggest that, perhaps, after centuries of controling law, policy, and power, men might just have allowed their conception of sex to shape the rape laws they wrote and enforced.

A quick illustration. When adultery was still illegal in America, a woman could not bring forward a rape charge without disproving that she wanted it (ie disprove adultery). The only way of doing this was showing resistence. This is still where the burden generally lies. She doesn't have to prove the 'no,' but rather that she resisted and physically.

Do not let the anti-feminist trolls put you off this book. It is not a polemic, and has no political agenda except to argue for long overdue changes in rape law. Estrich provides a detailed history of the development of rape law, showing the political and philosophical roots of a body of law that put the responsibility for controlling rape firmly on the shoulders of girls and women. As her review of the changes in rape laws shows, the changes instigated by women who knew the reality of rape were only partially successful in their goal of eliminating the underlying biases of the old laws.

This book should be read by anyone, male or female, who intends to go into a career in criminal justice or social services. I would also hope that legislators, who are charged with writing and revising laws, use this book to inform themselves about the toll that the old laws created for victims, the families of victims, and ultimately for society as a whole.

I have used this book in my graduate classes in criminal justice, and students respond to it enthusiastically.

This is a great book. A very factual analysis of laws pertaining to rape in the United States. Estrich points out that the male dominated legal system is reluctant to classify rape as violence, because their idea of violence is based on the sort of things that happen to men. Getting beaten up is violence, rape is just sex.

Estrich talks about many cases of women who attempted to take a rape case to court and lost because, for example, they didn't physically fight back for fear of being hurt by a much larger assailant, or because they were too scared to scream. Yet the legal system is all too ready to say that these terrified and victimized women "consented" -- to sexual attacks by strangers!

This is a powerful book, pointing out the need for revision of rape law.

This book is filled with numerous questions that are never answered by the author. I felt like I was back in graduate school listing to yet another boring lecture from yet another boring member of academia.

The first part is a diatribe with strong overtones that the current legal mess (and others) are the fault of white males. The author throws in just enough facts and fairness to overshadow this. The author goes out of her way on two occassions to mention that she is a victim of rape ("over two decades ago") while adding nothing of substance to the overall discussion. She additionally uses she thoughout the book instead of a mixture of he/she. Perhaps the author is attempting to make up for all those years she read books using he. This was and is not the time or place for this.

While the points raised are worthy of intellectual discussion and do need to be addressed by society as a whole the author buried any hope outside of academia. This book is a difficult read for the layperson and should be relegated to the law school book shelf. If the author was attempting to reach the masses she has failed completely. The author never really addressed the subtitle of her book: "How politics is destroying the criminal justice system." Instead we are left with unanswered question that we might see on her exams at USC.

Susan Estrich appears to be a lecturer in law. She is a rape victim, but that fact has probably been mentioned, as a good deal of her book is an attack on the current sentence system in America. It establishes her credentials as someone who is not a bleeding heart liberal but someone who has thought about the issues carefully.

The book is very short, easy to read and passionate in its call for change. By way of background America has seen a huge increase in the number of people put in prison over the last ten years. Despite falling crime rates the number of people in prison is equivalent to countries such as Russia and South Africa. Whilst America is generally a well ordered country with low crime rates in all categories except for homicide countries such as Russia and South Africa are experiencing social break down. The placing of large numbers of people in prison has a number of negative consequences. It is extremely expensive and the sorts of people who end up in jail will always be from the poorer sections of the community. In the United States this means that the prisons have very large numbers of Afro Americans and Hispanics in the prison population.

Estrich suggest that the basis of this occurring is a move away from the sentencing discretion of the courts and the introduction of mandatory sentences. She argues that basic criminology shows that people who commit crimes have very different prognosis for re-offending. A small percentage of offenders will commit most of the crimes whilst the broad mass will have a limited contact with the system. She argues that what you should do is to lock up the people who are likely to offend and not lock up those who are not likely. She further suggests that there are easy ways to predict criminal behavior based on the type of offense priors and drug use. She believes that a significant proportion of low level offenders could be let out of jail with massive savings to the community and no likelihood of an increase in the crime rate.

Against this background she says that the high levels of imprisonment combined with the high proportion of black people being locked up has started to corrupt the judicial system. Juries especially black juries are becoming sympathetic to calls by lawyers acquit guilty people as a way of showing that the system is wrong. This is at odds with the very notion of the law.

She also explains the Willie Horton case and the process by which the current system is now supported by both the major parties in America. In summary a passionate and interesting book.