Chutzpah

Chutzpah, says Alan Dershowitz, is "boldness, assertiveness, a willingness to demand what is due, to defy tradition, to challenge authority, to raise eyebrows." Assessing his experiences, he brings to bear all the chutzpah for which he's famed, examining anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, Zionism, and turmoil in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, while contemplating what the future will bring. But Chutzpah is also a personal story, recounting Dershowitz's childhood as an Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn, his days in law school, and his astonishing career, with such clients as Claus von Bülow, Leona Helmsley, and Jim Bakker. Bold and incisive, Chutzpah is full of conclusions and observations that will stimulate, surprise, and unsettle you.