Book Report Example
In Contempt Book Report
Book Written by Chris Darden
This report is based upon the book In Contempt, written by Christhopher A. Darden with Jess
Walter. This book is published by Regan Books an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers and is
copyrighted 1996 by Christopher A. Darden.
Introduction of the Author
The book In Contempt was written by Christopher A. Darden. Chris Darden is famous for being
one of the prosecuting attorneys in the court case The People vs. Simpson. He has worked hard
his whole life to reach the status he has now achieved. He proved to America that even though he
wasn't a high-priced private lawyer that he could present a well-thought out and planned case
under the tremendous pressure he and the other prosecutors had to endure during the Simpson
case.
Summary
I found this book to be very well thought out and well written. Most people would assume that
this book was written with the intentions of making a quick-buck off the misfortune of Nicole
Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. I, however, do not believe this to be true. The way that
the author speaks of the victims in the book and the way he spoke of them before and after the
trial shows that he really cared about the lives of these people that he didn't even know. He even
went as far as to say in the book that this was the first case that affected him personally and
emotionally.
As one may expect, the majority of this book is taken up with the Simpson case. Chapters two
through six detail his life from birth, his childhood in a working class district of Richmond,
California and his becoming a district attorney of Los Angeles in 1981. Chapters two and three
mostly consist of stories of him and his brother, Michael, stealing from local stores or his
brothers’ drug deals. When Michael hit his mid-teens he started selling marijuana off the front
porch of the house and Chris was his lookout. In return, he was told that he would be cut in on
the action but never was. No matter what, Michael always told Chris never to use drugs.
Throughout the book Chris Darden refers to his brother as a good role model for him no matter
what he did.
I feel the purpose of Chris Darden writing this book is to try to show the hardships he had to go
through as a black man trying to become a lawyer. Also I feel that he is trying to reveal the truth
behind what was happening in the Simpson case.
Body of the Review
This book is funny and at other times the mood is more serious. The few chapters in the
beginning were the funny ones. In these chapters he writes about his childhood and works his