New biography examines the life of Sotomayor '76

New book: Sonia Sotomayor: The True American Dream, by Antonia Felix (Berkley Books)

 

The author: The writer of biographies on Laura Bush and Condoleezza Rice, Felix draws on interviews with friends, relatives, and co-workers, as well as speeches and published papers.

 

The book: Felix traces the story of Sotomayor, how the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants living in the South Bronx became one of the great legal minds in the United States. She explores Sotomayor’s mother’s influence, her years at Princeton and Yale law school, her stints at the district attorney’s office in New York City and in corporate law, and her appointment to the federal bench. Publishers Weekly noted: “When Sotomayor arrived at Princeton and realized the gap between her skills and those of students from elite high schools, she spent the next summer reading classics and reviewing grammar books.”

 

Reviews: Publishers Weekly wrote: “Readers looking for a riveting and meticulously researched book on the Supreme Court Justice will be engrossed.” A critic for The Kansas City Star noted, “the book comes across as hagiography, which gives it a somewhat unreal tone. Fortunately for readers, Sotomayor’s life has been so interesting that it is worthwhile to digest what Felix presents.”

 

Memoir to come: In July Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group announced that it will publish Sotomayor’s memoir but gave no timetable. The press release described it as a “coming-of-age memoir by an American daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants.”