I recently went on a business trip on which I finally found time (during my 12-hour odyssey through various midwest airports on my way to Boston) to read Frankfurter Dilemma, a new novel by Ruth Kelly, whose husband Paul has been a Tenth Circuit judge since 1992. (Full disclosure: I clerked for Judge Kelly in 1996-97.)
I devoured the book before the plane finally touched down in Boston, and it's a great read for anyone who, like me, is a former judicial clerk with an interest in the Senate confirmation process. The novel centers on a Tenth Circuit judge nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. I found Ruth's descriptions of the intrigue involved in the confirmation process, which served to highlight the tension between Congress and the judiciary, irresistible. Best of all, in my view, the story also involves some well-timed and very interesting writs of mandamus filed by the judge's former clerks.
Frankfurter Dilemma, I was delighted to discover, is a solid debut novel.
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