The Constitution is about to turn 225 years old, and throughout its long history, attempts to discern its meaning have dominated American politics. Indeed, arguments over its meaning are more animated today than ever given the popularity of the Tea Party, whose adherents demand strict adherence to what they regard as its true, original meaning. It is therefore not surprising that deep interest among the lay public in the Constitution's text is often associated with a very specific fundamentalist approach to interpretation. In American Epic, the eminent legal scholar Garrett Epps also reads the constitution closely, but with a very different aim. He shares his own interpretations of the text of the U.S. Constitution-as law, as poetry, as narrative, and as What the Framers Intended-both as a guide and an inspiration for others as they explore the document for themselves and find their own approaches. He shows that it is possible to pay close attention to each word and sentence in the Constitution without interpreting it narrowly; to engage with the text not searching for one meaning, but many. A fluid and engaging writer, Epps' learned and surprising reading of the Constitution will make readers look at the document in an entirely new way.

About the Author
Garrett Epps is Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore Law School. He is a former staff writer for the Washington Post, and has also written numerous articles and editorials in The New York Times, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, and The Atlantic. Two of his nonfiction books, Democracy Reborn (Henry Holt, 2006) and To An Unknown God (St. Martin's, 2001), have been finalists for the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. He has also written two novels, including The Shad Treatment, which won the Lillian Smith Book Award.

Reviews
"Epps has created the ideal study guide for civics and political science classes, an intelligent and provocative tour through the fascinatingly complicated, vitally important blueprint of the United States." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Garrett Epps has done the impossible. He's made reading every Article in the United States Constitution fun and exciting." - Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Sleight of Hand "This is an astonishing, revelatory book. By reading the constitution line-by-line, Garrett Epps shows what it actually says and doesn't say-and in the process strips away two centuries of imputed 'meaning.' His mastery of history, literary analysis, and the law make American Epic an unforgettable book. The reader comes away as if from a first encounter with our constitution-with a new sense of what the founders said and meant. This book could only have been written by someone who combines Epps's experience as a novelist, journalist and scholar of constitutional law." - David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist and author of Bloodmoney "The best tour guides love the journeys on which they take their charges, and Garrett Epps loves the Constitution of the United States. American Epic makes it clear that Epps was a novelist before he was a law professor-not because he makes stuff up, but because he appreciates the scriptural, lyrical and, of course, epic readings of the document no less than the legal. Learning about our Constitution with Epps turns an honorable civic duty into an act of sheer joy." - E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent "Garrett Epps-law professor, journalist, novelist, and poet-surrounds the Constitution of the United States with all four of his vocations. He moves seamlessly between them in his close reading of the text. The result is not so much an interpretation as poignant recognition of the puzzles that make the country's formative document a lasting work of art." - Robert A. Ferguson, George Edward Woodberry Professor of Law, Literature, and Criticism, Columbia University, author of Alone in America and The Trial in American Life "With American Epic, Epps has written another masterpiece. Epps takes us on a wondrous journey through the Constitution, exploring every word of the remarkable document that so many venerate but few actually read. Even the most devoted student of the Constitution will find much to learn. American Epic is a revealing, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written examination of America's foundational text." - Adam Winkler, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law, author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America "Epps reveals, in terse yet marvelously supple prose, what can be learned through a close reading of the entirety of the United States Constitution. It should be on any list of gifts for anyone thinking of going to law school-or, more importantly, for any American simply seeking a better understanding of our foundational document." - Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair, University of Texas, author of Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance "Drawing on his skills as novelist, poet, law professor, and journalist, Garrett Epps leads us on a fabulous journey through the text of the American Constitution, at once both entertaining and deeply serious. You could not ask for a better tour guide." - Jack M. Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment, Yale Law School, author of Living Originalism


Awards
Commended for PROSE (Law/Legal Studies) 2013.



Book Information
ISBN 9780199974740
Author Garrett Epps
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 578g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 236mm * 28mm