Garner Bryan A. - Nino and me: my unusual friendship with Justice antonin scalia

Advance Praise for

N INO AND M E

Even those who lean a little to the left will find this intimate portrait of Justice Scalia fascinating, funny, and deeply loving. A ScaliaGarner collaboration based on a ferocious dedication to the language of the law leads to a friendship that is challenged at times by comic misunderstandings, almost disastrous arguments, and the foibles of both men. The ending of this vivid story is almost unbearably poignant.

D R. B ETTY S UE F LOWERS
D IRECTOR E MERITUS , LBJ L IBRARY
P ROFESSOR E MERITUS OF E NGLISH ,
U NIVERSITY OF T EXAS

Justice Scalia was one of the most controversial and influential jurists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He was lionized by the political right, and often demonized by the left. In this memoir, he is humanized by Bryan Garner, who paints a sympathetic but frank portrait of their friendship in the justices twilight years. The justice is often cranky or peevish, but he can also be warm and funny, and Garners story shows the broad spectrum of his intellect and temperamentand offers a rare glimpse into the intellect and private persona of a man who, whether you love him or hate him, helped shape American law for decades.

B RIAN R. M ELENDEZ
P ARTNER , B ARNES & T HORNBURG
M INNEAPOLIS

One day on the way to the Forum, Bryan Garner met his modern-day Cicero, Justice Antonin Scalia. Their friendship blossomed, and it is celebrated with obvious enjoyment in Nino and Me (not Nino and I , youll be pleased to read). At every step of his conversation with Justice Scalia, Bryan Garner is alert to language issues, and one of the triumphs of the book is the manner in whichtogetherthey prod, and examine, and then demystify many of the totems of legal English.

J OHN S IMPSON
C HIEF E DITOR OF THE O XFORD E NGLISH D ICTIONARY ( 19932013 );
AUTHOR , T HE W ORD D ETECTIVE (2016)

Bryan Garners first venture in biography is both erudite and witty, and the influence he and the Justice had on each other makes for a wonderful and profitable read.

H ON. R OBERT H ENRY
F ORMER C HIEF J UDGE ( RET. ),
U.S. C OURT OF A PPEALS FOR THE T ENTH C IRCUIT
P RESIDENT , O KLAHOMA C ITY U NIVERSITY

Bryan Garners elegant Nino and Me captures both the essence and the details of a historic man as only a confidant could. Garner illustrates Justice Scalias generosity and his temper, his panache and his idiosyncrasies, his charm and his fastidiousnessand nothing more completely than the Justices love of English, the mother tongue, which Garner reveals through private vignettes recounting the pairs many discussions spanning a decade. Those who have enjoyed the books that Justice Scalia and Garner jointly produced will find a new appreciation for the effort that those works required. Those who have not will learn what a fortunate pairing the two proved to be. And all will enjoy the benefit of what those who knew Justice Scalia wished for after he passed: a few more hours with the Justice, faithfully provided by a man who loved him well.

J UDD S TONE
M ORGAN , L EWIS & B OCKIUS
L AW C LERK TO J USTICE S CALIA, 20142015

Bryan Garner has written a unique book steeped in affection for a truly mesmerizing person. It is deeply illuminating about the persona of Nino Scalia. All future biographers will need to consult this book. But it is also a heartfelt, moving, and sometimes quite funny tale of a deep friendship forged initially by Garners and Scalias shared status as what David Foster Wallace labeled snoots, obsessives about lexicography and grammar (about which Garner is a world-class expert with strong views). One does not have to be a snoot oneselfor even a devotee of Justice Scalias jurisprudenceto appreciate the humanity of this book.

S ANFORD L EVINSON
W. S T . J OHN G ARWOOD P ROFESSOR OF L AW ,
U NIVERSITY OF T EXAS
A UTHOR , F RAMED: A MERICAS 51 C ONSTITUTIONS AND THE C RISIS OF G OVERNANCE

Early in Nino and Me , one learns that a snoot is someone who cares obsessively about words. Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner were both snoots. This sparkling memoir of Professor Garners collaboration with the Justice provides innumerable insights into grammar and usage, the law and advocacy, and how two strong-willed professional sticklers can nonetheless make a joint project work. Through it all, one comes to see the qualities that drew people to Justice Scalia regardless of whether they agreed with his jurisprudence.

E RNEST Y OUNG
A LSTON & B IRD P ROFESSOR OF L AW ,
D UKE L AW S CHOOL

We all think we know Mr. Justice Scalia, whether as the hero of conservative jurisprudence or as the bogeyman of liberal nightmares. Bryan Garner, though, gives us Nino Scalia the man. Its refreshing to get a glimpse of the human side of one of our ages true intellectual giants, who could be equally passionate about the principles of constitutional interpretation and the merits of different editions of Websters dictionaries.

Garner gives us a portrait of the collaboration, and the occasional clash, of two champions of the English languageor snoots, as theyre called. Nino and Me is a surprisingly touching account of two friends who shared a legal philosophy, a devotion to clear communication, and a passionate commitment to snootitude.

J ACK L YNCH
P ROFESSOR OF E NGLISH ,
R UTGERS U NIVERSITY N EWARK
A UTHOR , Y OU C OULD L OOK I T U P & T HE L EXICOGRAPHERS D ILEMMA

By the end of this book, those who never met the Justice will feel they know him well. But Garners entertaining book does so much more: it explores the challenges and rewards of scholarly collaboration, it explains and defends the textualist approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation, and it captures the sheer joy that the two main characters derived from mastering the English language. Their shared ability to communicate with precision, concision, and verve makes this book a real page-turner.

T HOMAS R. P HILLIPS
F ORMER C HIEF J USTICE ( RET. ),
S UPREME C OURT OF T EXAS
B AKER & B OTTS L.L.P.

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The names and details of the U.S. Marshals Service have been changed so as not to compromise their important work. Also, for the sake of simplicity, no distinction has been made between the U.S. Marshals Service and the Supreme Court Police; only insiders would notice, anyway.

Suggested musical pairing for those who read with background music: Edvard Griegs Peer Gynt , Suite No. 1, Op. 46, and anything by Luigi Boccherini.

To the memory of
David Foster Wallace
(19622008),
without whose intervention the events recounted after page 12 of this book could never have occurred

snoot /snt/, n. (2001) [Acronym for either syntax nudnik (or nerd ) of our time or Sprachgefhl necessitates our ongoing tendance ] A person who cares intensely about words, usage, and grammar, and who adheres to a kind of enlightened prescriptivism that assesses language for its aptness, clarity, succinctness, and power. The term was first used in print in the April 2001 issue of Harpers Magazine , in an essay entitled Tense Present, by David Foster Wallace, who described it as familial jargon with more-positive connotations than the dysphemisms grammar Nazi , usage nerd , syntax snob , and language police .Sometimes written as SNOOT .