======================================================================
= Go_East,_Young_Man =
======================================================================
Introduction
======================================================================
'Go East, Young Man: The Early Years' is a memoir written by United
States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. It describes his
childhood and early adult life, ending with his appointment to the
Court in 1939 at age 40. The title, a play on the famous American
expression "Go West, young man", alludes to Douglas's upbringing in
the Western United States - being uprooted often, eventually landing
in Yakima, Washington - followed by his legal education and
professional success in the Eastern United States. It was published
by Random House in April 1974 and is 493 pages long.
The work showcases a passion for the natural world and includes vivid
descriptions of a young Douglas's time in the Western mountains,
including such tales as spending a defenseless night with a friend on
an isolated spit of land, convinced that a screeching cougar nearby
was about to do away with both of them. While not covering Douglas's
tenure on the court, the book does not shy away from expressing his
opinions on matters political or otherwise. He also criticizes
personal aspects of people by name, including John Foster Dulles. In
preparation for the work, Douglas said he had spent time researching
records of his family's past and visiting ancestral and familial
locations in Nova Scotia and Minnesota.
Upon publication, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of 'The New York Times'
found the book to be "a peculiar kind of autobiography" that, while
capturing the nature of its author, is characterized by "a
disjointedness between one paragraph and the next that [...] makes the
book read as if it was the transcript of an interview with all the
questions expunged". Nat Hentoff, writing for 'The New York Times
Book Review', viewed 'Go East, Young Man' much more favorably, saying
his writing both here and in his Court opinions features a high level
of quality, wit, and persuasiveness, and that "he makes this book so
continually arresting that it reads like the kind of novel one wishes
would not end." Jim Dinsmore of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' wrote that
"Justice William O. Douglas has usually been a maverick and is part of
an American tradition, which, in contrast to conformity, extols the
virtues of individuality and diversity" and called the memoir "a major
testament of our time."
Cover of the paperback edition
'Go East, Young Man' spent six weeks on 'The New York Times' Best
Seller List. It was published in a paperback edition by Dell's Delta
Books division later in 1974, at the same length of 493 pages.
The work was framed as the first part of the 'Autobiography of William
O. Douglas', with the second part, 'The Court Years, 1939 to 1975',
being published in 1980 after the author's death. Legal commentator
Jeffrey Rosen later wrote that "the norms for judicial memoirs were
shattered" by the two volumes and their openness towards expressing
strong political viewpoints and criticizing others.
Scholar Bruce Allen Murphy published a heavily researched biography of
Douglas in 2003, 'Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O.
Douglas'. In it, he wrote that Douglas had long falsified much of his
early life, including the nature of his childhood illness, the
economic suffering of his family, his military service during World
War I, and his performance at Columbia Law School. James Ryerson,
writing for 'The New York Times Book Review', accepted Murphy's
conclusions and stated that, "In his 1974 autobiography, 'Go East,
Young Man', [Douglas] repeated many of these outright lies, introduced
new ones and liberally embellished other key details of his life
story." However, another scholar working on a Douglas biography,
David J. Danelski, as well as some of Douglas's past associates, said
that while Douglas may have exaggerated at times, Murphy's biography
had not proven several alleged fabrications regarding his health,
education, or marriage.
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_East,_Young_Man
