Washington (CNN) -- Justice Antonin Scalia is a conservative in thought, but not in personality. A new biography of the colorful Supreme Court jurist paints a complete picture of his enormous ongoing influence on the law and society.



"American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia" (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) offers the first comprehensive look at the first Italian-American on the high court, and the rhetorical battles he has waged on the court and off.



CNN spoke with Joan Biskupic, the book's author, who also is a reporter for USA Today. Biskupic has covered the high court for two decades, holds a law degree from Georgetown University and has also written a biography of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.



CNN: Justice Scalia has a certain public image in the minds of many Americans. You've known him for years and interviewed him several times for this book. Is he the same in private?



Biskupic: He's a lot more of himself in private. He actually is very confrontational behind the scenes, just as he is in public. He's very defiant. But he also can be quite funny, quite casual, generous and decent. His best friend on the bench is Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg [a low-key, liberal justice but, like Scalia, a native New Yorker who loves opera]. He's many things. He's very consistent on the law, but he's a lot of things in terms of his personality.



CNN: He has told me that one of the happiest times in his career was in the executive branch, where he said that's where the action was, instead of serving on the bench.



Biskupic: Remember what it was like working in the [Department of Justice's] Office of Legal Counsel in the post-Watergate era [in the Nixon and Ford administrations]. It was an exciting job for him, there was a lot of tension, and conflicts with the legislative branch. He really thrived on that. At a time when many Republican lawyers were trying to get out of the Nixon administration, as Watergate was moving to a climax, he was trying to move up and be promoted. He sparred with Democratic lawmakers, and was trying to exert executive privilege claims, when that was a dirty word in the wake of Watergate.



CNN: Growing up, you describe "Nino" -- as his friends and family call him -- as something of a golden child.



Biskupic: I'd always known he was an only child, who, interestingly, later went on to have nine children, but I didn't know he was the only offspring of his generation from two immigrant Italian families. For his parents and his aunts and uncles, he was the center of their universe, but it put a burden on him to perform, to be this special child. I found the conflicts in terms of being a product of two different families continue to reveal himself. The father was quite cerebral, was a professor, always had his nose in a book, he didn't abide any kind of silliness. And his mother's side was much more flamboyant. You had these contrasting families, and, as I write in the book, he learned to deal with conflict and tension early on in his life, and went on to readily generate it as an adult.



CNN: Many conservatives worship Scalia, and yet you suggest his influence has not had as far-reaching an effect inside the high court as many believe it to be. How do his colleagues view him?



Biskupic: I talked to his colleagues about where he's at. Justice [John Paul] Stevens says he is committed -- some of his impact made a huge difference, some of it unfortunate. Stevens, the senior liberal, has dueled with Justice Scalia dozens of times, from Bush v. Gore [the 2000 presidential election dispute] to recent dilemmas testing the Guantanamo detainees. Justice Ginsburg, his closest friend on the court, sees his influence beyond the marble walls, and that's the way I've been mostly viewing him
What does the biography look at? What was the biography a look into? What does author describe Scalia as? What did the author describe?
the first Italian-American on the high court, and the rhetorical battles he has waged on the court and off. at the first Italian-American on the high court, and the rhetorical battles he has waged on the court and off. conservative in thought, but not in personality. "American Original: The Life
question: What does the biography look at?, answer: the first Italian-American on the high court, and the rhetorical battles he has waged on the court and off. | question: What was the biography a look into?, answer: at the first Italian-American on the high court, and the rhetorical battles he has waged on the court and off. | question: What does author describe Scalia as?, answer: conservative in thought, but not in personality. | question: What did the author describe?, answer: "American Original: The Life