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Judge Z: Irretrievably Broken
Judge Atticus Zenas has seen too much from his front-row seat in a Lexington, Kentucky family court. For ten years he has watched the slow-motion death of marriage. He has seen families fall apart, destroyed by abuse, neglect, drugs, divorce, crime, cruelty and indifference. As he struggles every day in court to pick up the pieces and protect helpless children, he is on the ragged edge of falling apart himself. This novel is drawn from real life. The tragedy of fatherlessness. The hazards of co-habitation. The damage to children. The casual ease of drive-through divorce. And the sadness that God’s greatest gift to mankind – marriage -- is in alarming decline. Amidst the daily chaos of family court, “Judge Z” takes a journey of discovery to find the lost meaning of marriage—as God’s best metaphor for His relationship with us. Through bizarre court cases, law school classes, Sundays at a country church, lessons from a wise mother, a trip to India, and a trial that could destroy his career, he asks the question that confronts Is marriage “irretrievably broken”? The surprising answer is cause for hope.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 30, 2016
This book would have been better titled “Four Funerals and a Wedding”. Amongst other things, Judge Philpot’s fictional autobiography is a thinly veiled racist diatribe. It’s instructive to compare it with his earlier work (Fords Wonderful World of Golf) which describes his dysfunctional upbringing at the hands of his abusive Televangelist father Ford Philpot, and has a pervading theme of repressed homoeroticism. The golf-centric book has relatively innocuous racist expressions such as the mocking of ant-apartheid demonstrators who attempt to boycott South African golfers, and even these are balanced by mollifications such as the comically bizarre claim that the young Philpot’s parents abruptly yanked him from a boarding school on catching wind of someone at the establishment uttering the “N” word.
In his latest book, the kid gloves are off. The court cases described are rife with patronizing stereotypes of minorities including promiscuous African-Americans begetting endless streams of kids with random partners. Black characters are generally depicted as angry, irresponsible and “fatherless” murderers when they clash with the judge. Of the ten or so divorcing couples described for entertainment, at least half include a man of color who is demonized as a slimy, oversexed, Lothario or Svengali . (Augusto Fernando, Dr. Gupta Patel, “Dr. T” ,Professor Zhiu Yang, Mr. Dawid and DeJuan Wilder).
While the book attempts to show a diverse community supporting its hero, token minority characters remain as supporting cast, only portrayed positively if they play the role of “Uncle Toms” by acquiescing through, conformist activities such as:
1. Parroting the judge’s ideology in law school seminars or court hearings (Nicole Mason and her Reverend husband),
2. Inviting him to preach at their Church (The congregation of Mt. Gilead Missionary Baptist Church)
3. Being nudged by the judge to throw an impromptu birthday party for a boy named for slaveholder Jefferson Davis, and son of a racist skinhead (Aaron Morris)
4. Protecting him from physical assault in court (Deputy Clarence Palmer), or
5. Being cured of delinquency by heeding his advice to forgo abortion (Ivory Smith)
The author’s courtroom attitude to black men is obvious through his description of the several young African-Americans who murder each other through the course of the book despite his “mentorship,” as well his alter ego’s observations:
"Judge Z had seen them all in court. All the signs of a bad outcome were there. The gang tats, the drooping pants hanging so low it looked like they had repealed the law of gravity, the hoodies and white T-shirts, the gang signs they flashed to each other. All were black. All were killed by other young black men. ... Every year more young black men were murdered in Lexington. All by other black kids. Not by cops. But the cops were always the targets of protests and accusations about police brutality and excessive force."
The tantalizing “bombshell” promised in the book’s publicity turns out to be the revelation that the Judge’s mother was impregnated and abandoned by another man prior to her marriage to the Judge’s alcoholic father. The baby girl from this pregnancy was anonymously adopted in Cincinnati and could hypothetically be one of many women appearing in his court. Judge Philpot describes his parent’s rocky marriage, attributed to his father cavorting abroad while his mother stayed home during the war. He describes his own medically “miraculous” conception attributed to post-graduate celebrations.
We all have baggage, and it is unfair to punish children for the action of their parents. So, it’s all the more puzzling why a family court judge describes out of wedlock children as “bastard(s)”, and exults in the fiery deaths of trailer-park kids who miss Sunday school, in a book he dedicates to the children in his court?
The tragedy is that the subject matter is so relevant and timely for those of us who are concerned about the decline of the traditional American family. However the author by his own admission is “having fun” rather than engaging in serious discussion. He grinds his ax rather than sharpening our minds to this problem.
There is a steady stream of poorly concealed petty nastiness as the writer skewers real life characters (many who are good, local people) with clumsy barbs fashioned out of lines lifted verbatim from newspapers and smothered in venom. Anyone with access to a search engine can easily guess targets such the RJ Corman, the Williams and Collis families, to mention but a few.
Despite its sanctimonious theme, sexual titillation pervades the book while the author sings a winking serenade to his current love interests.
Needless to say, there is enough in this book to keep a team of therapists busy for quite some time.
Meanwhile family court needs judges whose demons don’t spill over into the courtroom.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and the overall moral of the book may be valid but the writer’s poorly concealed bigotry and inner angst is unlikely to inspire confidence in his judgment. Unfortunately, a worthwhile message gets lost because of the messenger’s personal issues. For a sitting judge to be so obviously prejudiced and conflicted is a cause of serious concern to the families that look to him for fairness. So please don’t drink the Kool Aid – it’s poisoned. I know.
In his latest book, the kid gloves are off. The court cases described are rife with patronizing stereotypes of minorities including promiscuous African-Americans begetting endless streams of kids with random partners. Black characters are generally depicted as angry, irresponsible and “fatherless” murderers when they clash with the judge. Of the ten or so divorcing couples described for entertainment, at least half include a man of color who is demonized as a slimy, oversexed, Lothario or Svengali . (Augusto Fernando, Dr. Gupta Patel, “Dr. T” ,Professor Zhiu Yang, Mr. Dawid and DeJuan Wilder).
While the book attempts to show a diverse community supporting its hero, token minority characters remain as supporting cast, only portrayed positively if they play the role of “Uncle Toms” by acquiescing through, conformist activities such as:
1. Parroting the judge’s ideology in law school seminars or court hearings (Nicole Mason and her Reverend husband),
2. Inviting him to preach at their Church (The congregation of Mt. Gilead Missionary Baptist Church)
3. Being nudged by the judge to throw an impromptu birthday party for a boy named for slaveholder Jefferson Davis, and son of a racist skinhead (Aaron Morris)
4. Protecting him from physical assault in court (Deputy Clarence Palmer), or
5. Being cured of delinquency by heeding his advice to forgo abortion (Ivory Smith)
The author’s courtroom attitude to black men is obvious through his description of the several young African-Americans who murder each other through the course of the book despite his “mentorship,” as well his alter ego’s observations:
"Judge Z had seen them all in court. All the signs of a bad outcome were there. The gang tats, the drooping pants hanging so low it looked like they had repealed the law of gravity, the hoodies and white T-shirts, the gang signs they flashed to each other. All were black. All were killed by other young black men. ... Every year more young black men were murdered in Lexington. All by other black kids. Not by cops. But the cops were always the targets of protests and accusations about police brutality and excessive force."
The tantalizing “bombshell” promised in the book’s publicity turns out to be the revelation that the Judge’s mother was impregnated and abandoned by another man prior to her marriage to the Judge’s alcoholic father. The baby girl from this pregnancy was anonymously adopted in Cincinnati and could hypothetically be one of many women appearing in his court. Judge Philpot describes his parent’s rocky marriage, attributed to his father cavorting abroad while his mother stayed home during the war. He describes his own medically “miraculous” conception attributed to post-graduate celebrations.
We all have baggage, and it is unfair to punish children for the action of their parents. So, it’s all the more puzzling why a family court judge describes out of wedlock children as “bastard(s)”, and exults in the fiery deaths of trailer-park kids who miss Sunday school, in a book he dedicates to the children in his court?
The tragedy is that the subject matter is so relevant and timely for those of us who are concerned about the decline of the traditional American family. However the author by his own admission is “having fun” rather than engaging in serious discussion. He grinds his ax rather than sharpening our minds to this problem.
There is a steady stream of poorly concealed petty nastiness as the writer skewers real life characters (many who are good, local people) with clumsy barbs fashioned out of lines lifted verbatim from newspapers and smothered in venom. Anyone with access to a search engine can easily guess targets such the RJ Corman, the Williams and Collis families, to mention but a few.
Despite its sanctimonious theme, sexual titillation pervades the book while the author sings a winking serenade to his current love interests.
Needless to say, there is enough in this book to keep a team of therapists busy for quite some time.
Meanwhile family court needs judges whose demons don’t spill over into the courtroom.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and the overall moral of the book may be valid but the writer’s poorly concealed bigotry and inner angst is unlikely to inspire confidence in his judgment. Unfortunately, a worthwhile message gets lost because of the messenger’s personal issues. For a sitting judge to be so obviously prejudiced and conflicted is a cause of serious concern to the families that look to him for fairness. So please don’t drink the Kool Aid – it’s poisoned. I know.
April 20, 2019
This was a very good book. It is written by a judge about a Judge in Family Court.
He clearly demonstrates how important it is to all family members to remain married rather than get divorced.
This book shows that quite often it is too easy to get divorced and that all family members would benefit by maintaining the marriage.
(The term “irretrievably broken” is often used to describe the marriage.)
He clearly demonstrates how important it is to all family members to remain married rather than get divorced.
This book shows that quite often it is too easy to get divorced and that all family members would benefit by maintaining the marriage.
(The term “irretrievably broken” is often used to describe the marriage.)
November 11, 2016
Loved this book. Great story teller. This really opened my eyes to the hardships of family court and how God works in the family unit to make Himself known. The author's views on marriage and the family were spot on. The story he weaves throughout the book had me wanting more and not wanting to put it down. Although a fictional story, much truth was woven into this book. The way he portrays the mother in this story inspires me to be a better mother to my children.
July 25, 2023
This man is a disgrace to our judicial system.
A judge should be unbiased and listen to each case without prejudice. Instead of focusing on the couples facing him in divorce court Judge Philpot was focused on what cases and story lines would sell his book; that was his only concern. To add insult to an already traumatic experience he openly told constituents “their case would be in his book; names changed or course to ‘protect their identity’ like that somehow made it okay. He is a disgrace.
A judge should be unbiased and listen to each case without prejudice. Instead of focusing on the couples facing him in divorce court Judge Philpot was focused on what cases and story lines would sell his book; that was his only concern. To add insult to an already traumatic experience he openly told constituents “their case would be in his book; names changed or course to ‘protect their identity’ like that somehow made it okay. He is a disgrace.
June 30, 2016
This book was recommended to me by a friend who knows the author personally. I was eager to explore the inner workings of Family Court while enjoying a work of fiction. On that score, I was not disappointed.
The plots weaves various story-lines to describe issues that perplex Christians trying to live their faith when cultural currents flow contrary. Philpot works research statistics into the narrative with skill.
Overall, the work is merely ordinary - although characters are well-drawn, the plot is stretched. Still, I recommend Judge Z for its informative content.
The plots weaves various story-lines to describe issues that perplex Christians trying to live their faith when cultural currents flow contrary. Philpot works research statistics into the narrative with skill.
Overall, the work is merely ordinary - although characters are well-drawn, the plot is stretched. Still, I recommend Judge Z for its informative content.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews