Others have written about the economic costs that come with so much law. But my thoughts ran in a different direction. Those who can afford sophisticated lawyers may be able to muddle through. Those armed with influential lobbyists may even find ways to make a profusion of laws work to their advantage. But what about everyday Americans and the rights promised to them in our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights? What happens to those people and their foundational freedoms-like the right to speak, pray, and gather freely-when our laws increasingly restrict what we may say, monitor what we do, and tell us how we may live? What does it mean for our nation's promise of equal treatment when our laws become so numerous and so complex that only an affluent or connected few can navigate their way? And what happens to our respect for law itself when the law no longer just reflects commonsense norms but includes unpredictable traps for the unwary? Those are the questions I wanted to explore and invite you to consider as this book unfolds. This isn't an academic work or a legal brief. It is a book of stories-stories about real people, their struggles to make their way in a world awash with law, and the toll on their lives and families. You will not meet lawyers in these pages but fishermen and foster parents, an Amish community, hair braiders and monks, even a magician and the polydactyl descendants of Ernest Hemingway's cat.