User's Guide to the Bluebook

As a new law student, I was really intimidated by the Bluebook. But I gotta tell you, after getting the "The User's Guide to Bluebook" three months after law school, I am really starting to feel that I have been tricked out of my money. It is nothing more than 15 sheets stapled together and as one of the reviewers said before me "this book is truely for the bluebook clueless." If you have even the slightest clue of how to use the bluebook, forget this waste of money. But I have to admit, we did spend 15 minutes in class on it, so if you didn't get that much in class, then it might be a good idea.

Since the Bluebook is a complicated reference book, it is difficult to learn how to use it by reading it. Dworsky's little book gave me the foundation I needed to understand the Bluebook. It is no longer a mystery to me!

I agree with the previous reviewers concerning this book. The issue of italics vs. underlining may be controversial, but I think most courts and most attorneys favor underlining; I know I do. In fax transmissions, underlining shows up much better. Also, underlined cases and emphases are much easier to spot when reading a legal brief or memorandum.

With all due respect to my colleague from Minnesota, this little book was a lifesaver for me.

My only exposure to the blue book was a dismissive 5 minute tour by a bored second-year student who was supposed to be a pillar of strength during for our "Lawyering Process" class. Had I not discovered this book, I would have been on a suicide watch that first semester of law school.

This book is small and ungodly expensive - it's also one of my most cherished possessions.

Dan Lobnitz - University of Denver College of Law - (2L)

I agree with the comments of the reviewer below pertaining to italics over underlining. See infra review of Thomas Blackwell. However, this book will not be very helpful to most users of the bluebook. The book is very, very brief and contains nothing not contained in the bluebook itself. Further, the index of the bluebook allows easy location of the applicable rules for even the most obscure of situations. This very short book merely reiterates that which is already contained in the bluebook, I would only recommend this book to the truly bluebook clueless.