Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature.

• Author: McDorman, Todd F.
• Position: Book Reviews

Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature. By Peter Brooks. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000; pp. x + 207. $24.00.

I began reading Peter Brooks' Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature the week Timothy McVeigh was executed for the Oklahoma City Bombing. The execution, delayed after the Justice Department announced the discovery of 3,000 misplaced documents, was nothing less than a national spectacle. The public seemed more annoyed by the delay than concerned by the revelation of the missing evidence because, as it was constantly repeated, McVeigh had, regardless of circumstances or timing, confessed. To read a book such as Brooks' in the midst of this event presented a fitting irony. As McVeigh's confession was criticized for its lack of contrition and used simultaneously as justification for punishment and for closure, I wondered what Brooks would say because his work ultimately is about the meaning of confessions--what their purposes are, how they are obtained, and how they are used.

While this book is not about McVeigh--he is not even mentioned--it is an insightful examination of the development and use of confession in both the law and literature. It is packed with a wealth of inspired questions, although perhaps too few efforts at answers, and intriguing reflections on both the motivation and use of confessional speech. In it Brooks, who has devoted much academic energy to the study of narrative, demonstrates himself a worthy storyteller. A series of engaging anecdotes sustains the book. I so characterize them not to belittle their importance, relevance, or clarity but to underscore Brooks' skill in crafting a persuasive yarn. The confessional narrative "Christian Burial," drawn from Brewer v. Williams (1977), is not only well selected, but Brooks' ability to convey the story, integrate legal opinions, and draw out implications is masterful. Other impressively told stories, from Mr. Apology to Martin Guerre to Peter A. Reilly, span the book.

At its core the book is about motives, purposes, and uses of confessional acts. As Brooks explains, his intent is "to provoke reflection, to ask difficult questions, and to suggest that more clarity about what we want confessions to be and to do would benefit our thinking and our treatment of those placed in accusation by the state" (6-7). Brooks suggests that the "truth" of confessions be considered more carefully, arguing that the accuracy of...