Red’s Book Review: The Runaway Jury by John Grisham

The setup for this book is a civil suit against a tobacco company and the ways that both sides of the suit go to extremes to manipulate the jury. This was written in 1996 before big tobacco lost any major suits concerning liability for smoking-related health problems. That alone makes it interesting as we’ve gone nearly two decades since tobacco lost and the myriad changes both legally and socially against smoking since then. It’s easy to forget the concept of a smoking section in restaurants or bars where people could smoke anywhere. I remember having to quarantine bar clothes in college because they reeked of cigarettes that I didn’t even smoke. The other thing to contemplate is the extent that big business goes to maximize their profits even to the extent of harming the public. The tentacles of these companies reach into every part of our society, manipulate it, and, many times, damage it. Something to consider as regulations and regulatory groups are stripped away by the current administration.

Up next: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver