The Failure of the Act: Conceptions of the Law in <i>The Merchant of Venice, Bleak House, Les Miserables</i>, and Richard Weisberg’s <i>Poethics</i>

Richard Weisberg is a leading participant in the academic subfield known as "Law and Literature," which is dedicated to what Weisberg aptly describes as "the delightful task of associating two major human enterprises: establishing justice and telling stories."In his most recent book, Poethics: And Other Strategies of Law and Literature, Weisberg attempts to provide, "more systematically . . . than elsewhere," a "guidebook to Law and Literature theory and practice." Several of the chapters in Poethics were written for other occasions and previously published; accordingly, it is no surprise that Weisberg succeeds more in demonstrating his critical acuity, the breadth of his literary interests, and his graceful writing style than in providing a systematic guide to the field.