For a painless lesson in constitutional theory for the layman, underscoring the “lay,” you’ve got to read this book. —Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School
A World-Wide Journey to Places Where Religious Practice and Environmentalism Collide
Wexler genuinely and thoughtfully wrestles with the tension between caring for the earth and caring for the people who find these rituals so meaningful. It is a reminder that, for good or ill, the actions of a faithful few can have a major impact. Booklist
This is funny stuff, and I hope that Jay Wexler will donate his brain to neuroscience so we can see what’s up with it. —Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works
Understanding the Constitution through Ten of Its Most Curious Provisions
[This] wise and funny treatise reminds us that the Constitution is, like the men who drafted it, brilliant but imperfect. I learned more reading this book than in my entire college career. This isn’t saying much given my college career, I realize. But I now plan to attend law school. It’s that good. —Steve Almond, author of God Bless America
A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars
I’ve read a lot of entertaining travelogues and informative studies of Supreme Court cases, but never at the same time. Think Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation meets Peter Irons’ The Courage of Their Convictions. Thank God for Holy Hullabaloos. —Pamela Karlan, founding director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford University
I’ve been delinquent in updating, so here is a sort of omni-post with updates since the last time I got around to updating: The New Yorker wrote a nice paragraph about When God Isn’t Green in connection with my book talk at the NYU Bookstore: We presume that the Garden of Eden was well tended to, that Buddhist monks are inseparable from the lush landscapes they inhabit, and that fasting during Ramadan must help conserve some resources. The author and professor Jay Wexler disassociates the tangentially conflated schools of religion and environmentalism in “When God Isn’t Green,” a nonfiction book that examines a widespread array of religious practices that happen to cause more harm to the environment than good. It’s a counterintuitive but fascinating prospect—Wexler visits Singapore, Guatemala, India, Alaska, and other locales, imagining how different societies might practice their faith with a closer consideration for the planet on which they worship. I was quoted in a New York Times piece about Justice Scalia’s ability to get [laughs] during oral argument: “Scalia was in a whole other league when it came to getting laughs at oral argument,” said Jay D. Wexler, a law professor at Boston University and a leading authority on Supreme Court humor. “If the court were a high school baseball program, Scalia was the ace of the varsity pitching staff, and everyone else played third-string utility infield for the J.V. squad.” Chuck Klosterman, one of my favorite authors, whose road-trip book about dead rock stars was one of the inspirations for Holy Hullabaloos, interviewed me for his great new book But What if We’re Wrong? on the question of whether we might look...
Calling it “freakishly prescient” (maybe the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about one of my books) and “a vital guide to . . . formerly ignored constitutional nooks and crannies.” Full piece...
“Wexler, a former clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a current law professor, blends his inside knowledge with a Buckley-like jaundiced eye to create an entertaining combination.” Full article...
