Books › A civil action
A civil action
First published 1995 · 864 pages
A gripping, real-life legal thriller that exposes the crushing personal and financial costs of chasing justice against corporate giants.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like being strapped into a slow-motion collision between righteous idealism and the crushing machinery of the American legal system. Despite being a work of meticulous non-fiction, it reads with the propulsive, sweat-inducing tension of a blockbuster thriller. You are pulled into an obsessive, claustrophobic world of depositions, mounting debts, and high-stakes gambles, feeling the same exhausting weight that presses down on its flawed, relentless protagonist. The prose is sharp and deeply human, anchoring the labyrinthine legal maneuvering in the devastating reality of grieving families. It is a deeply frustrating, profoundly gripping experience that will delight fans of investigative journalism who crave complex, morally gray narratives where the pursuit of truth comes at a devastating personal cost.
- Mood
- tense
- frustrating
- dread-soaked
- obsessive
- Tone
- meticulous
- suspenseful
- sobering
- empathetic
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- the illusion of justice · corporate impunity · obsessive pursuit · the human cost of litigation
- The writing
- Sharp, narrative-driven journalism that transforms dry legal maneuvering into a gripping, character-rich thriller.
- The arc
- Moves from righteous indignation into a grueling, obsessive labyrinth of legal warfare, culminating in a sobering realization about the limits of justice.
- Who it's for
- Readers who devour true crime, investigative journalism, and stories of flawed idealists battling insurmountable odds.
Content notes
- child death
- cancer and terminal illness
- grief
- corporate negligence
About the book
A Civil Action is a 1996 work of non-fiction by Jonathan Harr about a water contamination case in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980s. The book became a best-seller and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction.
The case is Anderson v. Cryovac. The first reported decision in the case is at 96 F.R.D. 431 (denial of defendants' motion to dismiss).
Description from Open Library.
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