I am suspicious whenever anyone recommends a memoir or an autobiography to read, especially if written by a businessman, an attorney, or a college coach.
Honestly, I cannot help but wonder if I’m going to get a straight story or some altered version of reality as seen through the eyes of a person steeped in self-aggrandizement. My skepticism comes with age and experience. I have seen too many people hawking their wares or services in the guise of tell-all books.
I admit my skepticism stems from my journalistic background. When I studied to become a journalist, gonzo journalism was not yet in vogue and the kinds of slanted tripe we get nowadays from the national media, both broadcast and print, was limited to the op-ed page. I come from the era of Murrow, Cronkite, Sevareid, and Brinkley, an age when objectivity was the standard.
Thus, you can imagine my cynicism when Cincinnati Book Publishing sent me copy of Look to Your Left, by attorney Jeremy Burnside. I am pleased to say that after the first chapter my suspicion disappeared.
This Horatio Alger-like saga (read rags to riches) is a touching, funny, tragic, dramatic and very interesting portrayal of Burnside’s progression through Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia. The title comes from a presentation during the author’s law-school indoctrination. Look to your left or right, a professor droned, one or more of you will not make the grade.
Burnside, from Ohio, practices law in Kentucky and the Buckeye State.
Here’s an interesting fact. You might recall that Appalachian School of Law was the sight of a tragic shooting by a disgruntled student back in 2002. Burnside was smack in the middle of the chaos that saw six people shot, three of whom died. That shooting has inspired Burnside to take an active role in the anti-gun movement.
By his own admission, Burnside did not have a stellar undergraduate career and he did poorly on the law school admissions test. He applied to some two dozen law schools and received only one acceptance: Appalachian School of Law.
To top that, after his first law semester he was placed on academic probation. He partied robustly and ignored his assignments. Goofing off in law school is never a good choice. He burst past that first semester probation after his father, Hammerin’ Mike, a truck driver with a salty tongue from Cleveland (via West Virginia) would not allow him to quit, especially after the shooting.
“[Expletive] that. You’re not shot, are you? If you’re not physically injured you’re going to sack up and finish school—or get kicked out tryin’.”
Actually, Hammerin’ Mike spouted sage advice, if you think about it.
Burnside’s book reads like fiction. The dialogue is crisp, the story never wants for action. His language is colorful, and peppered with the phrases of a blue collar upbringing. He writes the way many of us think.
Per Cincinnati Book Publishing, “The book is a slightly fictionalized account of how [Burnside] overcame academic probation and made Dean’s list despite the numerous disasters that threatened to destroy the law school and its students.” Among those disasters were a flood, a mudslide, and that infamous and tragic shooting in 2002.
Here’s what I liked about this book: despite astonishing distractions, Burnside summoned his inner resolve and willed himself not to fail. In true American fashion, he picked himself up by his bootstraps, found inner strength, changed his life, made the dean’s list, graduated, passed the bar, and now practices law successfully. This book describes all the characters he encountered along the way and offers a tour about the sacrifices needed to fulfill one’s dream. Remember, it reads like a novel.
Look to the Left offers life lessons that benefit anyone who is down on his or her luck, anyone who cannot see light at the end of the tunnel, or anyone who needs inspiration. Proceeds from Burnside’s book support his law school alma mater.
If you enjoy books with good outcomes, filled with moral strength, salty but honest dialogue, and a candid portrayal of life and its challenges, you will enjoy Look to Your Left. Find copies here or here.
Donald Then, a novelist and experienced editor and journalist, is NKyTribune’s literary editor. He reviews books written by local authors or those with a Northern Kentucky setting. Reach him at author@djamesthen.com Visit his website at www.djamesthen.com.