Essays are enjoyable to read, but difficult to write well. There are many easy pitfalls waiting for the writer. The template one learns in high school is the first. Followed closely, it sucks the liveliness and life from the writing. But avoiding this can lead to equally common problems. (Over) Emphasizing one’s point can turn an essay into a polemic, the writing equivalent of shouting at clouds. Folksiness is an obvious problem if you try to dial back polemicism. Getting the balance right is harder than one might assume.
Reading Say It Loud! by Randall Kennedy, you’ll never think about the problems inherent in the essay. You’ll ride the crest of entertaining prose, concise and intelligent descriptions of problems or ideas to be examined, and the restrained, ever reasonable personal presence of the writer. Each piece, and there are many – 29 in the 500ish pages – offers up new facts, engaging histories, and the on-page personality of a thoroughly engaging, intelligent essayist. This a collection to read and savor, to catch yesterday’s history from an insightful perspective and step boldly towards tomorrow’s challenges.
Say It Loud! is, as advertised, concerned with “Race, Law, History, and Culture.” Kennedy, who teaches law at Harvard, looks at race, history and culture through the lens of law, giving the book of essays its unifying structure. In the longest piece, “Derrick Bell and Me” he presents his relationship (not always easy) with his mentor at Harvard, Derrick Bell. It’s memoir via essay, a fascinating look at how the two men changed, how the laws changed, how the university changed, and both men changed the law and the university. Here you’ll see a great feature of the essays in this book; Kennedy’s willingness to understand and admit his mistakes. He’s simple and forthright about this, clear but absent any virtue signaling. It’s a real breath of fresh air.
Kennedy is forthright in his politics. He considers himself a progressive, so expect essays on “The George Floyd Movement: Promise and Peril” and “Why Clarence Thomas Ought to Be Ostracized.” But given that the book also includes “The Princeton Ultimatum: Antiracism Gone Awry, ” expect the unexpected whatever you’re reading. You’ll enjoy the delight of Kennedy’s (restrained, elegant) individuality. What you won’t find here is “How to Write an Effective and Enjoyable Essay.” In this book, Randall Kennedy demonstrates his chops as a teacher with examples, not explanations.
I demonstrated my ineptitude as an interviewer by misreading my own calendar. Randall Kennedy responded with impeccable interviewee skills, and the results speak for themselves, at this link and below. Pick up the book before or after you listen. There are smart and reasonable people teaching law in this world. It’s not too late to listen to them.
Narrative Species 