American Epic

In1987，E.L.DoctorowcelebratedtheConstitution'sbicentennialbyreadingit."Itisfivethousandwordslongbutreadslikefiftythousand，"hesaid.DistinguishedlegalscholarGarrettEpps--himselfanaward-winningnovelist--disagrees.It'sabout7，500words.AndDoctorow"missedagooddealofhighrhetoric，manyliterarytropes，andevenatraceof，ifnotwit，atleastirony，"hewrites.AmericansmayveneratetheConstitution，"butalltooseldomisitread."InAmericanEpic，EppstakesusthroughacompletereadingoftheConstitution--eventhe"boring"parts--toachieveanappreciationofitspowerandaholisticunderstandingofwhatitsays.Inthisbookheseeksnottoprovideadefinitiveinterpretation，buttolistentothelanguageandponderitsmeaning.Hedrawsonfourmodesofreading：scriptural，legal，lyric，andepic.TheConstitution'sfirstthreewords，forexample，soundspiritual--butEppsfindsthemtobemoreaspirationalthanprayer-like."Prayersareaddressedtosomeone...eitheranearthlykingoradivinelord，andgreatcareistakentonametheaddressee....Thisdoesthereverse.Thespeakeris'thepeople，'thewordsaddressedtotheworldatlarge."HeturnstheSecondAmendmentintoapoemtoilluminateitsambiguity.Henoticesodditiesandomissions.TheConstitutionlaysoutrulesforpresidentialappointmentofofficers，forexample，butnotremoval.ShouldtheSenateapproveeachfiring?Canitwithdrawits"adviceandconsent"andforcearesignation?Andhechallengeshimself，asseeninhissurprisingdiscussionoftheDefenseofMarriageAct(DOMA)inlightofArticle4，whichordersstatestogive"fullfaithandcredit"totheactsofotherstates.Wry，original，andsurprising，AmericanEpicisascholarlyandliterarytourdeforce.，"In1987，E.L.DoctorowcelebratedtheConstitution'sbicentennialbyreadingit."Itisfivethousandwordslongbutreadslikefiftythousand，"hesaid.DistinguishedlegalscholarGarrettEpps--himselfanaward-winningnovelist--disagrees.It'sabout7，500words.AndDoctorow"missedagooddealofhighrhetoric，manyliterarytropes，andevenatraceof，ifnotwit，atleastirony，"hewrites.AmericansmayveneratetheConstitution，"butalltooseldomisitread."InAmericanEpic，EppstakesusthroughacompletereadingoftheConstitution--eventhe"boring"parts--toachieveanappreciationofitspowerandaholisticunderstandingofwhatitsays.Inthisbookheseeksnottoprovideadefinitiveinterpretation，buttolistentothelanguageandponderitsmeaning.Hedrawsonfourmodesofreading：scriptural，legal，lyric，andepic.TheConstitution'sfirstthreewords，forexample，soundspiritual--butEppsfindsthemtobemoreaspirationalthanprayer-like."Prayersareaddressedtosomeone.eitheranearthlykingoradivinelord，andgreatcareistakentonametheaddressee.Thisdoesthereverse.Thespeakeris'thepeople，'thewordsaddressedtotheworldatlarge."HeturnstheSecondAmendmentintoapoemtoilluminateitsambiguity.Henoticesodditiesandomissions.TheConstitutionlaysoutrulesforpresidentialappointmentofofficers，forexample，butnotremoval.ShouldtheSenateapproveeachfiring?Canitwithdrawits"adviceandconsent"andforcearesignation?Andhechallengeshimself，asseeninhissurprisingdiscussionoftheDefenseofMarriageAct(DOMA)inlightofArticle4，whichordersstatestogive"fullfaithandcredit"totheactsofotherstates.Wry，original，andsurprising，AmericanEpicisascholarlyandliterarytourdeforce"--，"TheUnitedStatesistheonlynationintheworldinwhichpoliticalleaders，judgesandsoldiersallswearallegiancenottoakingorapeoplebuttoadocument，theConstitution.TheConstitutiontoday，however，ismuchreveredbutlittleread..ReadersofAMERICANEPICwillneverthinkoftheConstitutioninquitethesamewayagain.GarrettEpps，alegalscholarwhoisalsoajournalistandwriterofprize-winningfiction，takesreadersonaliterarytouroftheConstitution，findinginitmuchthatisinteresting，puzzling，praiseworthy，andsometimeshilarious.ReadingtheConstitutionlikealiteraryworkyieldsahostofmeaningsthatshednewlightonwhatitmeanstobeanAmerican"--