Average Rating: 
Rating: - Good read; mandatory for future law students
I read "One L" prior to going to Gonzaga Law School in part to brace myself for what was going to come. Turow does get one thing right for sure in his book---the crushing work load that every law student has to take on. There is pressure, that is for sure but I found it to be solely due to the huge amount of material one had to master in what seemed to be a very short period of time. And he also got the stress of law school final exams right. Nothing in undergraduate school will prepare a student for the single exam winner-take-all format that most law classes still follow to this day.What I didn't find accurate from his book is the cutthroat competition amongst law students. That might've been what it was in the early 1970s when he was at Harvard. It certainly wasn't what I experienced. I cannot recall a single occasion where my classmates sat around talking about grades, speculating about who would make Law Review, or battling in study groups like Turow describes. Maybe Gonzaga was just a more humane place than Harvard. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what the law school experience is like (or was like). And if you're thinking of going to law school, be prepared for the biggest academic challenge of your life, wherever you go.
Rating: - A good recount of the first year
I thought this book was an interesting portrayal of an Ivy League law school - I read it the summer before I began law school at a Jesuit law school on the West Coast.Many of the 1L experiences will be the same no matter where one attends - the stress from competition, for example - I liked to characterize it as "the thrill of victory" (to get a cherished A) or the "agony of defeat" (to make an idiot out of yourself in class, which, I am sorry to say, I did on more than one occasion!) My advice to prospective (and current) law students would be to buy the book, and read it with a grain of salt. I believe that each person has the ability to create their own destiny, and there's a hell of a lot more to learning the law, and succeeding in your chosen profession, than being in the top 5% and on law review - make friends, have fun, and most of all, use your knowledge to help more less fortunate than you, no matter if you went to Harvard or number #176 on U.S. News's list of 177 law schools. That's the key to success as an attorney, and in life, for that matter. Just my $.02!
Rating:  - Read this prior to your first yeat at any school!
Scott Turow's first book is a true inspiration to those who are entering law school or any school for that matter. A true account of his first year as a Harvard Law student, Turow explains how he narrowly escaped a nervous breakdown from studying so hard. As a Harvard alum myself, Turow's description of life in Cambridge is exact in every detail. A friend of mine was a classmate of Turow's and his character is actually mentioned in the book. He confirmed what their first year was like and praised Turow for such an accurate account. If reading about students studying all day and all night motivates you to get better grades..since that is all that matters at most schools, then this book is for you. If you are entering undergraduate or graduate studies to slack off and disapear from society for several years, don't read this book. It would really depress you.
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