Introduction 3
1 Law and Narrative: Re-examining the Relationship 8
Describing Law in Terms of Autonomy 11
Narrative as the Basis of Law and the Humanities 13
Shelley's Case, Part 1: Law of The Jungle 20
Shelley's Case, Part 2: Silent Spring 31
Law, Literature, and Narrative 35
What Is Narrative? 41
How Narratives Interact to Influence Legislation 47
Text in Context 51
What's Truth Have to Do with It? 58
Whose Story to Believe? 61
2 Institutionalizing Narratives 63
Narrative and the Normative Syllogism 63
The Narrative Nudge 65
When Narratives Clash 70
Changes in Narrative, Changes in Law 73
Law's Constraints: Generic or Precedential? 83
Novelizing Law 87
Resisting Narratives: Keeping the Outside Out 89
Absorbing Narratives: Letting the Outside In 99
What Law Can Learn from Literature (and History) 105
3 Law, Narrative, and Democracy 120
The Rule of Law and Its Limits 121
Toward a Democratic Rule of Law 126
The Jury as a Structural Safeguard of Democracy 131
The Democratic Role of Interpretive Communities 134
A Study in Contrasts: The Rodney King and O.J. Simpson Juries 148
Is Jury Nullification Democratic and within the Rule of Law? 157
Some Thoughts on Democratic Interpretation 160
4 Narrative as Democratic Reasoning 169
The Narrative Shape of Deliberation 169
Law-as-Discipline 175
The Problem with Appellate Practice and Appellate Opinions 181
(Re)Introducing Narratives across the Profession 184
Democratic Education, Practical Reason, and the Law 191
A Conclusion of Sorts 202
Notes 207
Bibliography 265
Index 281