{"product_id":"american-epic-reading-the-u-s-constitution-paperback","title":"American Epic: Reading the U.S. Constitution - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGarrett Epps\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1987, E.L. Doctorow celebrated the Constitution's bicentennial by reading it. \"It is five thousand words long but reads like fifty thousand,\" he said. Distinguished legal scholar Garrett Epps--himself an award-winning novelist--disagrees. It's about 7,500 words. And Doctorow \"missed a good deal of high rhetoric, many literary tropes, and even a trace of, if not wit, at least irony,\" he writes. Americans may venerate the Constitution, \"but all too seldom is it read.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eAmerican Epic, \u003c\/em\u003e Epps takes us through a complete reading of the Constitution--even the \"boring\" parts--to achieve an appreciation of its power and a holistic understanding of what it says. In this book he seeks not to provide a definitive interpretation, but to listen to the language and ponder its meaning. He draws on four modes of reading: scriptural, legal, lyric, and epic. The Constitution's first three words, for example, sound spiritual--but Epps finds them to be more aspirational than prayer-like. \"Prayers are addressed to someone . . . either an earthly king or a divine lord, and great care is taken to name the addressee. . . . This does the reverse. The speaker is 'the people, ' the words addressed to the world at large.\" He turns the Second Amendment into a poem to illuminate its ambiguity. He notices oddities and omissions. The Constitution lays out rules for presidential appointment of officers, for example, but not removal. Should the Senate approve each firing? Can it\u003cbr\u003ewithdraw its \"advice and consent\" and force a resignation? And he challenges himself, as seen in his surprising discussion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in light of Article 4, which orders states to give \"full faith and credit\" to the acts of other states. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWry, original, and surprising, \u003cem\u003eAmerican Epic\u003c\/em\u003e is a scholarly and literary tour de force.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGarrett Epps\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore Law School. A former staff writer for the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e, he has written for the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times, New Republic, The New York Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e, and the \u003cem\u003eAtlantic\u003c\/em\u003e. Two of his nonfiction books, \u003cem\u003eDemocracy Reborn\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTo An Unknown God\u003c\/em\u003e, have been finalists for the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. One of his two novels, \u003cem\u003eThe Shad Treatment\u003c\/em\u003e, won the Lillian Smith Book Award.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 9.4 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 01, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45257513009254,"sku":"9780199389711","price":42.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/eVk0RUV5c3ZzRGU2VEtpNUNnY1FBQT09.webp?v=1773780630","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/american-epic-reading-the-u-s-constitution-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}