I’m delighted to pass along that Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived—the book of Justice Scalia’s speeches that I’ve co-edited and that will be released to the public next Tuesday—has received not one but two very favorable reviews in the forthcoming issue of the Weekly Standard.

Hoover Institution legal scholar Adam J. White praises the book as an “indispensable” set of speeches in which “Scalia educated, challenged, and entertained countless audiences.” White calls particular attention to Justice Scalia’s emphasis on (in White’s words) “the crucial role that education—especially civic and moral education—must play in sustaining republican government.” (Relatedly: White is the author of an excellent essay, “Antonin Scalia, Legal Educator” in the new issue of National Affairs.)

I was worried by former speechwriter Barton Swaim’s opening observation that “I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed reading a collection of speeches.” But it turns out that his use of the present perfect tense (“[ha]ve … enjoyed”) is a ploy. Swaim finds, to his surprise, that Scalia Speaks “somehow works.” Indeed:

These addresses are beautifully constructed in their rhetorical expression and logical development, as satisfying to read as they must have been to hear. There’s a warm lucidity about Scalia’s writing that nicely complements the oral form: He’s always clear but treats his readers as people, not reasoning machines; his aim is to express his argument as cleanly and efficiently as he can, but he’s happy to stop and ensure you’re following the logic. And happy to crack a joke, too. Scalia’s wit is legendary, but I was unprepared to laugh as much as I did. One example of many, on the absence of “soccer moms” in the Brooklyn of his youth: “There were no soccer moms because there was no soccer,” he writes. “Americans overwhelmingly preferred baseball, a game in which a lot of players stand around while not much happens, to soccer, a game in which people run back and forth furiously while not much happens.” There are people who write jokes for a living who’d consider that their best work. [Emphasis added.]

Swaim’s discovery that he enjoyed Scalia Speaks far more than he expected to is, I’m pleased to say, an observation I’ve received from several other early readers, including some jaded Supreme Court reporters who wouldn’t have counted themselves among Scalia’s biggest fans.

So do yourself a favor, and buy Scalia Speaks now.