O.J. The Last Word

The Story

O.J.: The Last Word is perhaps the most controversial and shocking book yet to be written about the O.J. Simpson murder case. Spence, who was O.J.'s first choice to represent him in the criminal trial, and who served as a national commentator throughout one of America's greatest legal traumas, has chosen, after three years without a written word, to write this honest, often caustic assessment of the trial that riveted a nation. What distinguishes this work from the torrent of articles and books that have been written about the case is that Spence has chosen not merely to exhume the facts surrounding the case and reassess whether or not O.J. was guilty, but rather to use the trial to write about America itself. While both the defense and prosecution repeatedly claimed that this was not a case about race, not a murder that revolved around the evidence that a great black football star had murdered his blond ex-wife, Spence argues just the opposite: that this was a case about racial prejudices and bigotry from the start, and that those who choose to ignore these facts fail to understand the burning issues that continue to keep us a great nation divided. Spence also uses the case to attack the media orgy that has helped to create a culture of celebrity obsession and materialistic greed.