Notorious RBG Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

Ruth Bader Ginsberg began her law career as a champion for equal rights, and later became one of the first females to join the Supreme Court. Late in life, she became an unlikely hero and pop icon for her strong dissents after the Supreme Court began to shift towards conservatism. RBG is the nickname upon which her legacy has been preserved by Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s many fans and followers.

About the Author

Irin Cameron is an Israeli-American journalist and commentator. She is a senior correspondent at New York Magazine and a CNN contributor.

Shana Knizhnik is a civil rights attorney. While a student at NYU law school, she created the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr, a feminist website dedicated to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Topics

Biography & Memoir

Notorious RBG Book Summary Preview

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg By Irin Carman and Shana Knizhnik

What You’ll Learn

How an elderly Supreme Court Justice became a pop icon
What was her journey to the Supreme Court
How a moderate justice became the most liberal of the nine judges
What is the source and meaning of the iconic necklace in the viral memes preserving her legacy

Who This is For

Students of U.S. History
Feminists and liberals
Anyone seeking to understand the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Key Insights

At 5 ft tall and 80 years old, Ruth Bader Ginsberg became a pop icon, dubbed “Notorious RBG” as a play off the then-popular rapper “Notorious B.I.G.” In 2013, she became a viral internet hero by the millennials who looked to her as the champion of their liberal ideals. With a Tumblr and Facebook page, created by the coauthor of this book, Shana Knizhnik, RBG’s fame was built. Although her massive popularity came late in life, her accomplishments dated back to her youth. Notorious RBG shares the life journey and triumphs of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, aka RBG.

Growing Up Kiki

Joan Ruth Bader’s original nickname was Kiki. Her mother was a first-generation American whose family had immigrated to escape the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Kiki was an intellect and a reader from a young age. Her musical talent included playing the cello and she spent time in the Adirondacks during the summer. It was a relatively normal childhood except for two tragedies: the death of a sister to meningitis when Kiki was just two years old, and her mother’s cervical cancer diagnosis when she was 13.

Her mother always wished for Kiki to receive the higher education that she hadn’t, so Kiki worked hard to please her mom by excelling in her studies. As a result, she was awarded multiple scholarships to attend Cornell University. Sadly, Kiki missed her graduation due to her mother’s passing only the night before.

Two messages of inspiration from her mother were a profound influence on Kiki’s life. One was to always be a lady, never overcome with “pointless emotions” such as anger and envy. The other was simply, “be independent.”

The Formation of Ruth’s Future

During the Cornell years, much of Ruth’s future was in the embryo and began its development. When she arrived at Cornell, the ratio was four men to every woman. Unlike most of the females there, Ruth was not looking for a “Mrs. Degree.” Finding a husband was far from the priority list, as were the parties of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority she was in.

Ruth majored in government and studied under Professor Robert E. Cushman, who taught Constitutional Law. There was a “Red Scare” during the Cold War, as fear of communism was widespread. A Zoology professor at her university, Marcus Singer, was removed from his teaching position for not giving up the names of his...