Life Reflections: Justice Clarence Thomas

About the book
“My Grandfather’s Son”
By Clarence Thomas
2007, HarperCollins Books
289 pages
$26.95, hardcover

It is with some trepidation that I write this review of the new Clarence Thomas autobiography. There seems no end of opinion about Justice Thomas, and that opinion seems to be divided into two camps, for and against, and never the twain shall meet.

Nonetheless, this is a remarkable book about an important figure in American, and judicial, history with a remarkable life story to tell: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.

But what is remarkable about this autobiography is not the bitter confirmation fight, which is retold here and about which I’ll have more to say later, or his service on the court, which this book expressly does not cover.

The remarkable part of this book is the rise of Justice Thomas from the kind of poverty most Americans never hear about and the role his grandparents played in rescuing him, and his brother, Myers, from a disastrous environment.

To read the entire review, see today's print edition of the Hutchinson Leader (Tuesday, Jan. 8).

Barry Anderson reviews books occasionally for the Hutchinson Leader; comments about this review are welcome, as well as suggestions for future reviews, and those comments and suggestions can be sent to gbarryanderson@gmail.com. “My Grandfather’s Son” is available at area bookstores, online and at the Hutchinson Library.