John Grisham

John Grisham is a successful American novelist. He is a former lawyer and many of his works consist of legal drama. Between 1983 and 1990 he was a Democratic legislator in the Mississippi House of Representatives; many of his works are based out of Mississippi or its neighbors because of this influence.

He has had more than 20 books published, and several of these have been made into movies. He was the best-selling author of the 1990s.

Grisham is an active Baptist and a critic of capital punishment, two themes which have appeared in his work.

His first book, A Time to Kill, took three years to write, and was rejected by publishers numerous times before Wynwood Press published 5,000 copies in 1987. The novel told the story of a rape victim's father killing his daughter's attackers, and the ensuing courtroom drama.

Movie critic James Berardinelli wrote:

• "Grisham's novels all have a depressing sameness to them, and this one is no different. We have the young, good looking hero crusading for right. Whether he wins or not isn't important, only that he gives it his best shot and, in doing so, redeems himself. Along the way, there's probably a pretty (and pretty insignificant) female sidekick willing to help him out."

Grisham's second book, The Firm, was published in 1991, becoming his first bestseller with more than 7 million copies sold.