The Page 69 Test: "A Patent Lie"

Sunday, June 29, 2008

"A Patent Lie"

Paul Goldstein is the Lillick Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading authorities on intellectual property law. He is regularly included in The Best Lawyers in America and testifies before congressional committees and international government meetings on intellectual property issues.

He applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, A Patent Lie, and reported the following:

Page 69 (below right, click to enlarge) is certainly representative of A Patent Lie in that it tells the reader something of what the book is about--a contested patent on a lifesaving AIDS therapy--and offers a sample of the novel's style, but it only hints at what the Washington Post book reviewer identified as "among the novel's pleasures"--"insights into lawyers and the games they play." (When McKee tells Seeley that if he had pushed back against the inventor, the client would have fired him, Seeley says, "You've got it backward, Boyd. You should have fired them. If you can't stand up to a client, you might as well turn in your bar card.") I should add that Seeley, the book's hero, is not without his own self-destructive tendencies--Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, wrote, "Scott Turow fans will welcome this complex protagonist."

Of course, a single page can't convey the larger action or pace of the book. According to a Booklist review, the novel "effectively combines suspense with rich characterization," and Publishers Weekly adds that this "outstanding sequel" to my earlier novel, Errors and Omissions, "masterfully portrays the intricate courtroom maneuvering and the ethical dilemmas of trial attorneys."

Make no mistake, though, the book is not just about lawyers like Seeley and McKee, but about, love and lies, family and faith, and the battle for control of a watershed drug that could, in the right hands, save the lives of millions.