Mouthpiece: A Life In -- And Sometimes Just Outside -- The Law by SUSAN LEHMAN and Edward Hayes (2006, Hardcover)

Synopsis
In this colorful memoir, a well-connected attorney chronicles his rise from a working class neighborhood of Queens, New York, to the top of his profession as a Manhattan lawyer who rubs shoulders with the rich and famous--all while maintaining both his street smarts and his sartorial splendor. Hayes learned how the law really works, first as a prosecutor in the high pressure Bronx D.A.'s office during the gritty and turbulent 1970s, and then as a defense attorney. He learned it was a tough game in and out of court, and that he had to play close to the edge to win. He also found he enjoyed fine clothes, good food, and the company of women. (Hayes is reputed to have been the model for the character Thomas Killian in Tom Wolfe's THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.) After he moved to Manhattan, Hayes traveled in circles of wealth and power--and here he names names, such as Anna Wintour and George Pataki--and his cases involved the Andy Warhol estate and Daniel Libeskind. And, as he did in the Bronx, he worked hard and played hard.

Key Details
Author:	Edward Hayes, SUSAN LEHMAN
Language:	English
Publisher:	Broadway Books
Format:	Hardcover
ISBN-10:	0385511116
ISBN-13:	9780385511117

Size
Length:	288 pages
Height:	9.8 in
Width:	6.5 in
Thickness:	1 in
Weight:	20 oz

Publisher's Note
A colorful attorney offers an irreverent and candid assessment of the practice of modern law, within the context of the social and political institutions of New York City, detailing his youth, his education, his work as both a homicide prosecutor and defense attorney in the South Bronx, and his current Manhattan practice for the rich and famous. 35,000 first printing.

Industry Reviews
"As a prose stylist, Hayes belongs to the School of Breslin, McAlary, Dunleavy et. al., and writes punchy, tabloid-infected sentences in, for the most part, an anecdotal present tense....The whole thing is a sort of bravura performance, the kind of cigar-puffing, leaning-back-in-the-chair oratory you might hear on a particulalrly good night at Elaine's or Rao's."

"Who is Eddie Hays? If you have to ask, he hasn't done his job. MOUTHPIECE, the title of this lively, entertaining and utterly unapologetic autobiography makes him sound like a flak, but he's actually a lawyer...with a colorful history of high profile clients who come to him because, as he repeatedly insists, he gets things done: 'You have a problem, you call me, I'm there."
New York Observer - Adam Begley (02/13/2006)