Word: sternly
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...comparison, the 1964 version of Joy of Cooking has one straightforward recipe for pot roast and one for mashed potatoes. But Joy is an amusing cultural icon, atwitter with the new availability of frozen food and the wonders of the blender. It is stern and didactic in tone, urging its female readers on to culinary excellence: "You will eat at the hour of your choice . . . And you will regain the priceless private joy of family living, dining and sharing...
During the investigation of the suicide, Stern also has to handle another family matter. His client and brother-in-law, Dixon Hartnell, is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office for securities fraud. Hartnell, who owns a brokerage house, has long held a reputation as a ruthless businessman. His practices have always teetered on the illegal, and he is accused of using inside information to make a profit on the Chicago futures market. Hartnell's case is complicated by testimony given--in exchange for immunity--by Stern...
Despite the strength of the mysteries, much of the attention in Burden of Proof is on Stern's own personal development as a result of his wife's suicide. For the most part, this process makes a strong story. Turow makes a convincing case for the profound impact Clara's death has on him, and as a result keeps Stern's several-page-long thoughts about her from becoming tiresome...
Clara's absence is a persistent and powerful reminder to Stern of his foreign past. Stern clings to the idea that his marriage into a highly refined and Americanized family is a disguise for his Argentinian roots. The suicide provokes powerful memories for Stern because it was her father that gave Stern his first...
Turow's adeptness at writing in such a direct style is perhaps essential to his characterization of Stern as calm and unemotional, as Stern speaks with curt and deliberate phrases himself. Turow is less successful, however, in his attempts at scripting other characters' dialogues. In his efforts to create distinct and eccentric characters, he occasionally makes different characters appear to have the same, hyper personality...