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Spencer Pahlke
Clarence Darrow & Book Review

My favorite book, The Story of My Life, was written by my favorite attorney, Clarence Seward Darrow (1857 – 1938). He lived a life driven by his ideals, often to the detriment of his health, his finances, and his friendships.

In his thoughtful autobiography, he seamlessly turns a remarkably in-depth chronology of his life into a philosophical masterpiece. While I read the book, I was pulled from one page to the next by clever quips and stern observations; the whole book is filled with quotes that I keep in mind as I live my life because I think he struck a level of truth and clarity we rarely see.

Darrow’s book, packed with thoughts skeptical of the uncritical masses, is written in the same style that Darrow lived his life: he continuously challenged all that he believed. This mental framework led him to represent the powerless in the face of those with wealth and power. A defender of the working class and free-thinker, he lived the well-examined life to which all should aspire, I know I do.

Spencer Pahlke

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