A CIVIL ACTION, written by JONATHAN HARR, was published in 1996. The book tells the true story of one man so determined to take down two of the nation's largest corporations accused of killing children from water contamination that he risks losing everything.The main plot is as follows:
Wilburn is a well-known "Leather City" with a population of less than 40,000. The Abelson River meanders through the north of the city.
From 1968 to 1971, residents in the eastern part of Wilburn complained that the tap water tasted and smelled wrong, and the water was dirty and rust-colored. The city government was forced to shut off water wells several times and turn them on several more times. During this period, the municipal engineer repeatedly emphasized: "The well water is safe and can be drunk with confidence."
In the 1970s, 12 children in Wilburn suffered from leukemia. Eight of them lived within a 1.5-kilometer radius, and six were neighbors with almost only a wall between them.
In the spring of 1979, the discovery of 184 barrels of industrial waste in the northeastern part of Wilburn aroused the concerns of parents of children with leukemia: Is contaminated well water the culprit of their children's illness? In December of the same year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began investigating a possible high concentration of leukemia in the Wilburn area.
On May 14, 1982, Schliemann, the attorney representing the 28 plaintiffs in Wilburn, formally filed a lawsuit against Beatrice Food Company and W.R. Grace Company.
In August 1986, after 51 months of evidence collection and multiple trials, the jury found Beatrice Foods not guilty and W.R. Grace Company guilty. After the verdict was announced, W.R. Grace's stock price plummeted, causing a loss of US$155 million. In September of the same year, the plaintiff settled with W.R. Grace Company and received 8 million in compensation.
In 1986, Schliemann, the plaintiff's attorney, declared bankruptcy. He was heavily in debt due to this case and invested a total of millions of dollars. He hired 12 outstanding experts to participate in the investigation of the case and drilled 157 monitoring wells to conduct water quality studies.
A few years later, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) announced plans to clean up the Abelson River aquifer and sued W.R. Grace Co. and Beatrice Foods Inc. to pay for the cleanup costs. The cleanup plan announced by the U.S. EPA is expected to take 50 years and cost $69.4 million.
After the book was published, it won many awards, such as "NATIONAL BESTSELLER"?,"?NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER", and so on.
The book has received high praise from the media and readers, such as:(1)"The legal thriller of the decade."?—Cleveland Plain Dealer. (2) Described as "a page-turner filled with greed, duplicity, heartache, and bare-knuckle legal brinkmanship" by?The New York Times.
In short, A CIVIL ACTION?is the searing, compelling tale of a legal system gone awry—one in which greed and power fight an unending struggle against justice. Yet it is also the story of how one man can ultimately make a difference. Representing the bereaved parents, the unlikeliest of heroes emerges: a young, flamboyant Porsche-driving lawyer who hopes to win millions of dollars and ends up nearly losing everything, including his sanity. With an unstoppable narrative power reminiscent of Truman Capote's?In Cold Blood,?A CIVIL ACTION?is an unforgettable reading experience that will leave the reader both shocked and enlightened. Furthermore, A CIVIL ACTION?was made into a movie starring John Travolta and Robert Duvalier, and released to the public in 1998.
Finally, let's get to know the author JONATHAN HARR. The book has won the author many honors, including "The National Bestseller", "winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction". He is a former staff writer at theNew England Monthlyand has written forThe New CorkerandThe New York Times Magazine.