{"id":19104,"date":"2015-12-02T11:37:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T16:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?p=19104"},"modified":"2016-02-05T14:03:52","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T19:03:52","slug":"when-humor-meets-law","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2015\/when-humor-meets-law\/","title":{"rendered":"When Humor Meets Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor of Law and humor writer Jay Wexler discusses his eight-month sabbatical in Buenos Aires, and forthcoming novel Tuttle In the Balance<\/em>.<\/h2>\n
\"Professor
Professor Jay Wexler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professor Jay Wexler<\/a> returned to Boston University School of Law this year after a sabbatical spent teaching in Buenos Aires on his second Fulbright Fellowship<\/a>. He was awarded his first Fulbright in 2008, and taught a church-state course at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.<\/p>\n

Between teaching, writing, and traveling, Wexler kept busy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He taught a course in English on US Constitutional Law at the University of Buenos Aires Law School. Throughout the course, he was consistently impressed by his students\u2019 work. \u201cThey were super smart, and not shy to speak up in class,\u201d Wexler says. \u201cAnd they know more about US politics than most people in the US.\u201d In addition to teaching, he frequently lectured on both religion and law and environmental law for the State Department at nearby universities and scholarly institutions.<\/p>\n

In the midst of teaching and lecturing, Wexler found time to write. During his time abroad, he finished writing his book,\u00a0When God Isn\u2019t Green: A World-wide Journey to Places Where Religious Practice and Environmentalism Collide<\/a><\/em>, to be published on March 15, 2016 by Beacon Press. He also began writing a new book, Our Non-Christian Nation: How Wiccans, Atheists, Satanists, and Other Non-Christians are Demanding Their Rightful Place in American Public Life<\/em>, now under contract with Stanford University Press.<\/p>\n

Now, back home in Boston, Wexler has the December 7 release of Tuttle in the Balance<\/a><\/em> to look forward to. The book, his second piece of fiction but first novel, follows Supreme Court Justice Ed Tuttle\u2014who readers met in Wexler\u2019s first fiction book, The Adventures of Ed Tuttle, Associate Justice, and Other Stories<\/a><\/em>\u2014as he falls into a mid-life crisis during an important term. Tuttle finds himself becoming unstable, developing an interest in Taoism, and facing critique from his fellow judges. \u201cI don\u2019t want to give anything away, but let\u2019s just say that a fracas\u2014a brouhaha, if you will\u2014may or may not break out in the justices\u2019 conference room,\u201d Wexler says.<\/p>\n

Even in his academic pieces, Wexler knows how to make a reader laugh. \u201cI\u2019ve written humor my entire life, starting with a puppet show I penned in third grade called \u2018Hey Be Cool,\u2019\u201d he says. Rejection from the Harvard Lampoon in college steered Wexler down the path toward becoming a law professor, but he still maintains his love of humor. Between fiction and nonfiction, he embraces both, and often finds inspiration for his fictional work in non-fictional events or circumstances. \u201cI feel like I know what I\u2019m doing more with the nonfiction, but when I write a piece of fiction that works, that gives me a different sort of happiness,\u201d he says. Wexler has written two nonfiction books, Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church\/State Wars<\/a><\/em>, and The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution Through Ten of its Most Curious Provisions<\/a><\/em>, and is well known for his joke study<\/a> on which Supreme Court judge elicits the most laughter during oral arguments.<\/p>\n

In addition to his newest work of scholarship, Our Christian Nation<\/em>, Wexler sees many more publications in his future. \u201cI\u2019m also trying to write a new novel,\u201d Wexler says. \u201cIt\u2019s called The Sabbatical<\/em>, and it\u2019s about a law professor on sabbatical in Buenos Aires.\u00a0Real creative, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuttle in the Balance<\/em> will be promoted with a brief December book tour, starting with a discussion and signing event at the Harvard Bookstore on December 8.<\/p>\n

Book Tour Dates:<\/strong>
\nDecember 8, Boston, MA >> Event info<\/a>
\nDecember 10, New York, NY >> Event info<\/a>
\nDecember 14, Washington, DC >> Event info<\/a>
\nDecember 15, Philadelphia, PA >> Event info<\/a><\/p>\n

Reported by Johanna Gruber (CAS’16).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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