Outside of a Dog: Sayers, Dorothy L.: (03) Unnatural Death

Trent

Trent wrote on April 6, 2004 at 12:16 PM:

It's amusing just how much badly done legal details can throw you off, isn't it? We just watched Intolerable Cruelty, in which George Clooney plays a high-powered L.A. divorce attorney. Having now worked on some actual family law cases, I basically annoyed my wife for the entire movie by yelling at the screen about its laughably inaccurate legal shenanigans, which were many. Not to mention the stuff he coulda/shoulda been disbarred for. I know, why let that get in the way of the plot...but sheesh.

Kate

Kate wrote on April 6, 2004 at 8:11 PM:

Well, I didn't know the error until after I read it and was checking the _Companion_; it turned on the interpretation of a 1925 statute, so it's wasn't an error that jumped out at me. And the stuff I *did* recognize was right. So it actually wasn't a problem for me.

My mother refuses to watch _Law and Order_ in the same room as me, because I basically can't keep my mouth shut about its errors either.

Mike Kozlowski

Mike Kozlowski wrote on April 6, 2004 at 9:33 PM:

Well, I'm fortunate that I'm not a lawyer, then, and instead get to watch Hollywood's scrupulously accurate portrayal of software development and system administration.

Kate

Kate wrote on April 6, 2004 at 9:40 PM:

Mike: not that you will, but never ever read any of J.D. Robb's books.

Pam

Pam wrote on April 8, 2004 at 2:46 PM:

Since I haven't read this particular book, I'm talking out my ass here, but I suspect that the "casual generalized racism" is part and parcel of the casual generalized classism I noticed (and was annoyed by) in other books in the series.

Kate

Kate wrote on April 8, 2004 at 7:32 PM:

I don't know about part & parcel as in stemming from the same sources; Jo considers British racism as xenophobia. The racism is much less pervasive, and also bothered me a lot more, though I have noticed the class stuff.