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Book Home  Famous Authors John Grisham
John Grisham
John Grisham was born in Jonesboro,
Arkansas. His father, a cotton farmer and itinerant construction worker
moved the family frequently, from town to town throughout the Deep South,
settling in Southaven, Mississippi in 1967. Although his parents lacked
formal education, his mother encouraged him to read and insisted that
he prepare himself for college.By his own account, he had no interest in writing until after he embarked on his
professional career.
For his first two years in college, Grisham drifted,
attending three different colleges before earning a degree. After abandoning
a youthful dream of a professional baseball career, he settled down
to study accounting and prepare for a career as a tax lawyer. While
in law school, his interest shifted from tax law to criminal law and
litigation. After graduating from the University of Mississippi law
school, he established a small private legal practice in Southaven Mississippi.
He was elected the to Mississippi House of Representatives in 1983.
By his second term he held the vice chairmanship of the Apportionment
and Elections Committee, as well as memberships on the Insurance, Judiciary
A, and Military Affairs Committee.
In Mississippi, attorneys in private practice are
sometimes called upon to appear as public defenders for indigent clients.
In this way, Grisham received invaluable experience of the criminal
justice system. Inspired by a case he observed in a Mississippi courthouse,
Grisham decided to write a novel. For years, he arrived at his office
at five o'clock in the morning, six days a week, to work on his first
book, A Time To Kill. His manuscript was rejected by 28 publishers before
he found an unknown publisher who was willing to print a short run.
Without the benefit of a major publisher's marekting apparatus, the
novice author went directly to booksellers, encouraging them to stock
his book.
Although A Time to Kill sold a disappointing 5,000
copies, Grisham had already begun work on a second novel The Firm. At
the same time, bored with the routine of the state capital and eager
to spend more time with his family, he decided not to seek re-election
to the state legislature. He closed his law practice and moved his family
to Oxford, Mississippi, determined to concentrate on his writing.
At age 36, his career as a novelist bloomed when
movie rights to The Firm were sold for a hefty price, even before the
book had found a publisher. The Firm, has sold more than seven million
copies and spent 47 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Grisham's
next offering, The Pelican Brief, sold six million copies. Within a
few years, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and his subsequent effort, The
Client, (1993) had all been made into successful films.
His other novels include The Chamber (1994), The
Rainmaker (1995),The Runaway Jury (1996) and The Partner (1997).
Novels by John Grisham
- A Time to Kill (1989)
- The Firm (1991)
- The Pelican Brief (1992)
- The Client (1993)
- The Chamber (1994)
- The Rainmaker (1995)
- The Runaway Jury (1996)
- The Partner (1997)
- The Street Lawyer (1998)
- The Testament (1999)
- The Brethren (2000)
- A Painted House (2001)
- Skipping Christmas (2001)
- The Summons (2002)
- The King of Torts (2003)
- Bleachers (2003)
Screenplay by John Grisham
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