The New York Times - Jennifer Senior
Notorious RBG may be a playful project, but it asks to be read seriously. It's an artisanal hagiography, a frank and admiring piece of fan nonfiction…Early on, we learn that Justice Ginsburg was a fan of Nancy Drew as a child, and Notorious RBG, with its earnest superhero framing, reads like a Nancy Drew novel itself…It's an Honest Abe tale for the 20-something set…There is much about Justice Ginsburg that remains enigmatic. The achievement of Notorious RBG is that the authors make this unassuming, most studious woman come pulsing to life.
From the Publisher
The authors make this unassuming, most studious woman come pulsing to life....’Notorious RBG’ may be a playful project, but it asks to be read seriously...That I responded so personally to it is a testimony to [its] storytelling and panache.” — Jennifer Senior, New York Times
Carmon and Knizhnik write powerfully about the progression of Ginsburg’s legal career. In particular, they make vivid the development of her trademark arguments ... In her fierce honesty, resolute realness, and, yes, innate sense of style (those collars!), Ginsburg emerges as a cultural icon worthy of her own fanbase — Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe
"Brooklyn, New York, represents no fear, confidence, and speaking your truth, and my dad and Justice Ginsburg lived those words. I think he would be honored to share the 'Notorious' title with her, and it's up to us to honor their legacies by continuing to fight for equality and justice for all by voting and getting into good trouble." — CJ Wallace, son of Notorious BIG
“What a wonderful book: The annotated dissents! The knockout photos! Why she likes to write through the night! The litany of big cases she won as a lawyer, and how she picked them! How she made Bill Clinton cry! Notorious RBG is a laugh-out-loud joy to read.” — Rachel Maddow
“A deeply original mashup of pop culture and serious scholarship. I plan to give a copy to both of my daughters.” — Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove
“This rigorously reported book shines a new light on the groundbreaking cases Ginsburg litigated challenging gender stereotypes.” — Louise Melling, Deputy Legal Director, ACLU
“If you admired RBG before, Carmon and Knizhnik will make you fall in love with her, not only as a feminist hero but a human being.” — Vogue
“Clark Kent had Superman. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has Notorious R.B.G…. Carmon and Knizhnik have turned R.B.G’s robe into a cape.” — New York Times Book Review
“[The Notorious RBG] book mixes cheeky fan art with a serious – and stirring – account of Ginsburg’s life and work, covering everything from her trailblazing legal career to her current exercise regimen.” — Rolling Stone
“After this treatment, surely, Biggie would agree that RBG truly is notorious.” — NPR.org
“[F]ull of feminist fairy dust. Read it.” — Elle.com
“[R]iddled with fascinating revelations about the beloved and, yes, notorious U.S. Supreme Court justice…the book eloquently and thoroughly demonstrates once and for all that RBG backs her whip smart, often snarky one-liners with a substantive feminist legacy.” — Mic
“You may never get to chat with RBG herself, but through the book, you can let her quotes inspire you and guide your way in all of life’s events.” — Bustle
“In her fierce honesty, resolute realness, and, yes, innate sense of style (those collars!), Ginsburg emerges as a cultural icon worthy of her own fanbase.” — Boston Globe
CJ Wallace
"Brooklyn, New York, represents no fear, confidence, and speaking your truth, and my dad and Justice Ginsburg lived those words. I think he would be honored to share the 'Notorious' title with her, and it's up to us to honor their legacies by continuing to fight for equality and justice for all by voting and getting into good trouble."
Vogue
If you admired RBG before, Carmon and Knizhnik will make you fall in love with her, not only as a feminist hero but a human being.
New York Times Book Review
Clark Kent had Superman. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has Notorious R.B.G…. Carmon and Knizhnik have turned R.B.G’s robe into a cape.
Rolling Stone
[The Notorious RBG] book mixes cheeky fan art with a serious – and stirring – account of Ginsburg’s life and work, covering everything from her trailblazing legal career to her current exercise regimen.
Gilbert King
A deeply original mashup of pop culture and serious scholarship. I plan to give a copy to both of my daughters.
Rachel Maddow
What a wonderful book: The annotated dissents! The knockout photos! Why she likes to write through the night! The litany of big cases she won as a lawyer, and how she picked them! How she made Bill Clinton cry! Notorious RBG is a laugh-out-loud joy to read.
NPR.org
After this treatment, surely, Biggie would agree that RBG truly is notorious.
Jennifer Senior
The authors make this unassuming, most studious woman come pulsing to life....’Notorious RBG’ may be a playful project, but it asks to be read seriously...That I responded so personally to it is a testimony to [its] storytelling and panache.
Louise Melling
This rigorously reported book shines a new light on the groundbreaking cases Ginsburg litigated challenging gender stereotypes.
Kate Tuttle
Carmon and Knizhnik write powerfully about the progression of Ginsburg’s legal career. In particular, they make vivid the development of her trademark arguments ... In her fierce honesty, resolute realness, and, yes, innate sense of style (those collars!), Ginsburg emerges as a cultural icon worthy of her own fanbase
Boston Globe
In her fierce honesty, resolute realness, and, yes, innate sense of style (those collars!), Ginsburg emerges as a cultural icon worthy of her own fanbase.
Mic
[R]iddled with fascinating revelations about the beloved and, yes, notorious U.S. Supreme Court justice…the book eloquently and thoroughly demonstrates once and for all that RBG backs her whip smart, often snarky one-liners with a substantive feminist legacy.
Elle.com
[F]ull of feminist fairy dust. Read it.
Bustle
You may never get to chat with RBG herself, but through the book, you can let her quotes inspire you and guide your way in all of life’s events.
Mic
[R]iddled with fascinating revelations about the beloved and, yes, notorious U.S. Supreme Court justice…the book eloquently and thoroughly demonstrates once and for all that RBG backs her whip smart, often snarky one-liners with a substantive feminist legacy.
Jeffrey Toobin
This breezy, fun and thoughtful take on the life of the Justice explains exactly why a new generation created and embraced the Cult of Ginsburg.
Latinas Uprising
RBG fans, both old and new, will love the story of her life....For those advocating for women’s rights or ‘equal citizen stature under the law’ as RBG prefers to call it—this will be fuel to your fire.
Bitch Media
Reading [NOTORIOUS RBG] feels like reading a story told by a very smart friend, interspersed with photos of brilliant fan art....Altogether, the book accomplishes a tricky task: celebrating Ruth Bader Ginsburg as an icon, while also making us see and understand her as a real person.
Gail Collins
It’s the combination of Ginsburg’s woman-hear-me-roar history, her frail-little-old-lady appearance and her role as the leader of the Supreme Court’s dissident liberals that have rallied her new fan base.
New York Times
It’s the combination of Ginsburg’s woman-hear-me-roar history, her frail-little-old-lady appearance and her role as the leader of the Supreme Court’s dissident liberals that have rallied her new fan base.” –Gail Collins, ,New York Times
Library Journal - Audio
★ 02/01/2016
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (b. 1933) was Columbia University's first female tenured professor; she published the first casebook on sex discrimination; she was the second woman to sit on the nation's highest court; and she was the first Supreme Court justice to officiate at a same-sex wedding. Ginsberg is iconic: she's a Halloween costume for all ages; her Cartoon Network alter ego, Wrath Hover Ginsbot, has been "appointed for life to kick your butt"; she's a recurring character on Saturday Night Live. Her "jabot with scalloped glass beads"—aka her dissent collar—is a feared weapon for justice. Her inspirational success on and off the bench—the diminutive octogenarian still does push-ups—inspired the Tumblr site Notorious R.B.G. (notoriousrbg.tumblr.com), "a digital tribute" whose moniker nods admiringly to late rapper Notorious B.I.G., invoking both stark contrasts and surprising similarities between the two headliners. Knizhnik and Carmon have seamlessly transferred digital to paper (fact-checked with RBG!) and going aural proves equally successful—albeit definitively different. While Andi Arndt reads RBG in all her fabulous notoriety, frequent references to downloadable enhanced visual materials (including RBG's annotated doodles!) can be distracting. VERDICT That said, this work does justice to Notorious RBG. ["The authors successfully situate [Ginsberg's] work within a larger historical context, thereby illustrating her central role in advancing equal rights for all": LJ 11/15/15 starred review of the Dey Street: HarperCollins hc.]—Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
Library Journal
★ 11/15/2015
Rejoice! This is the year to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), affectionately known as the "Notorious RBG." This eponymous—and humorous—book is the third recent publication providing biographical information and paying tribute to Ginsburg's Supreme Court opinions, with special attention to her famous—and influential—dissents. Coauthors Carmon, an MSNBC journalist who has interviewed RBG, and Knizhnik, recent alumna of New York University School of Law and creator of the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr blog, bring a fresh, appropriately irreverent perspective to scholarship about the justice. In fact, this book is not at all scholarly—and this is a major asset. Rather, taking its chapter headings from the lyrics of late rapper Notorious B.I.G., it provides bare-bones biographical narrative and excerpts from a selection of Ginsburg's seminal opinions, while inserting cartoons, photos, poetry, and even opera lyrics. The brief, cogent excerpts from her court opinions are annotated in plain language by prominent legal academics. Moreover, the authors successfully situate RBG's work within a larger historical context, thereby illustrating her central role in advancing equal rights for all. VERDICT Perfect for general readers and academics who are fans of Scott Dodson's The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. [See "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/15, p. 32.]—Lynne Maxwell, West Virginia Univ. Coll. of Law Lib., Morgantown
DECEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
How many Supreme Court Justices have been compared to rock stars—complete with their own fan pages and Tumblr homage site? As of this writing, there’s one, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and this audiobook celebrates both her life and her accomplishments. She has staked her claim to be the voice of those who have faced discrimination and ridicule, and she’s left a rich collection of opinions for history. Not bad for a Jewish grandmother who stands less than 5 feet tall. Narrator Andi Arndt’s bright, authoritative voice fits the book’s reverent tone. She uses a conversational style to humanize Ginsburg and moves the story along efficiently. Arndt adds excellent diction and comfortable pacing to make this audiobook a satisfying experience. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
