“David Tatel has written the book that his friends and admirers always hoped he would write, but expected he would not. One that deals candidly with his ‘vision’ — his blindness, and his years of treating it as an asterisk, all while becoming one of the most prominent and thoughtful judges in the country. This book is both novelistic and introspective in its treatment of his lack of sight — from his love affair with his wife and children, to his ‘cane lessons,’ to his later-in-life affection for his guide dog, Vixen. Along the way, it is also a book about the law, the art of judging and today’s Supreme Court. And it’s fascinating.”
— Nina Totenberg (National Public Radio)
“The judge’s memoir offers a behind-the-scenes look at the art of judging, his career as a civil rights lawyer working to desegregate public schools and a deeply personal reflection on how he coped with, and initially hid, his declining eyesight… It is also something of a love story, detailing his devotion to the German shepherd guide dog, Vixen, who changed his life in 2019.”
— Ann E. Marimow (Washington Post)
“[an] extraordinary memoir… Vision is at once a legal history of the last half-century and a story of blindness and enlightenment… His book is at once a memoir of his vision of equality under the law and a memorial for it — a judgment on a judicial system that has grown blind to its betrayal of the law.”
— Julia S. Peters (New York Times)
“Memoirs generally roll out the particularities of an individual’s adventure in the world. And some move to a larger stage, addressing questions of living in a just society, or simply being human. “Vision” does it all. There were hurdles, starting with his relationship to his own blindness. Through brilliant compensations and subterfuges, he had made the condition seem almost irrelevant. Writing the memoir, Tatel wrote, led him ‘to accept my blindness as an essential part of who I am.’ The book functioned as a way to make sense of the mix. Through decades without eyesight, Tatel collaborates naturally. True to form, the book emerges as a tripartite undertaking, involving a blind judge, a vigilant and compassionate dog and a wise editor with beautiful white hair.”
— Tim Carrington (Rappahannock News)
“... captivating...”
— Randy Maniloff (American Bar Association)
“Vision is charming, wise, and completely engaging. This memoir of a judge of the country’s second highest court, who has been without sight for decades, goes down like a cool drink on a hot day. White quiet humanity and candor, Judge Tatel discusses his upbringing, his career in the law, his deep disapproval of today’s highly politicized Supreme Court, and the passions that dominate his life today, for his wife, his family — and his guide dog.””
— Scott Turow, #1 bestselling author of Suspect
“The one-word title of this compelling and deeply personal memoir is perfect: his half-century of blindness notwithstanding, Judge David Tatel’s vision of justice has never dimmed. Here he charts a rich and varied life of unwavering commitment, in the face of a formidable obstacle, to use law to achieve a more just and equal society.””
— Linda Greenhouse, author of Justice on the Brink
“I have had the privilege to know David Tatel as a great judge, and to admire (profoundly) his ability to cope with the disability of blindness, but until reading this memoir I had no idea of the extraordinary life he has led — starting as a boy doing physics experiments in the High Andes in the year of Sputnik, right up to his disillusionment with the more conservative Supreme Court in recent years. One does not have to agree with his politics to recognize a man of vision and grace.”
— Michael W. McConnell, director, Stanford Constitutional Law Center
“The deepest lesson of David Tatel’s journey is that we can’t avoid our challenges but only survive by meeting them. Today, his brilliantly told story isn’t just important for our personal lives but also for our lives as citizens who are called anew to meet the challenges facing our country and to protect and defend our ideal of justice for all.”
— Timothy Shriver, chairman, Special Olympics
“Vision blew my mind. As a son, a husband, a father, a skier, a student, a lawyer, a dog lover, a high-level government official, and one of the most influential jurists in our nation, David Tatel has courageously dedicated his unprecedented career in the law to the pursuit of decency, honor, justice, and equality. Read this book, and you will have a whole new vision of what it means to be a truly remarkable person.”
— Geoffrey R. Stone, professor, University of Chicago Law School
“A moving, thoughtful, and inspiring memoir from a thought leader and federal judge who has vision for the things that matter most.”
— Brian Stevenson
“A distinguished jurist recounts a lifetime of trials in and out of the courtroom… both affecting and inspiring…A provocative, well-written pleasure for students of contemporary jurisprudence.”
— Kirkus
“Tatel’s humility and tenacity shine. The result is a stirring reflection on an extraordinary life.”
— Publishers Weekly
“With modesty and wit, this winning memoir recounts the remarkable career of a civil rights lawyer who succeeded Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — the nation’s second most powerful court — all while battling a disease that left him blind. His book is at once a meditation on his vision of equality under the law and a memorial for it.”
— Editor's Pick (New York Times)
“The judge had a towering intellect, was a model judicial craftsman and, only incidentally, had been blind since his 30s.”
