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Books by John Grisham (23 Items)
Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, John Grisham was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.
Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn't have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.
One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.
That might have put an end to Grisham's hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career—and spark one of publishing's greatest success stories. The day after Grisham completed A Time to Kill, he began work on another novel, the story of a hotshot young attorney lured to an apparently perfect law firm that was not what it appeared. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.
The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham's success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller.
Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, and The Appeal) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 225 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marked his first foray into non-fiction.
Grisham lives with his wife Renee and their two children Ty and Shea. The family splits their time between their Victorian home on a farm in Mississippi and a plantation near Charlottesville, VA.
Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honoring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer: representing the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. Preparing his case with the same passion and dedication as his books' protagonists, Grisham successfully argued his clients' case, earning them a jury award of $683,500—the biggest verdict of his career.
When he's not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including most recently his Rebuild The Coast Fund, which raised 8.8 million dollars for Gulf Coast relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He also keeps up with his greatest passion: baseball. The man who dreamed of being a professional baseball player now serves as the local Little League commissioner. The six ballfields he built on his property have played host to over 350 kids on 26 Little League teams.
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Ford County: Stories
By John Grisham
( Random House, Inc.)
Read by John Grisham (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
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The Associate
By John Grisham
(© 2009 - 2009 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Erik Singer (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Suspense
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
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A Painted House
By John Grisham
(© 2001 - 2001 Random House, Inc.)
Read by David Lansbury (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Family Saga
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
A moving story of one boy's journey from innocence to experience. AudioFile Earphones Award.
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The Street Lawyer
By John Grisham
(© 1998 - 1998 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Frank Muller (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Legal
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
A violent encounter with a homeless man turns Michael, a rising lawyer, into an advocate for the homeless - and a thief.
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Playing for Pizza: A Novel
By John Grisham
( 2007 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Christopher Evan Welch (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
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The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
By John Grisham
(© 2006 - 2006 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Craig Wasson (Amer.)
Non-Fiction > Social Science - Penology
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
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B-O-T Exclusive!
The Firm
By John Grisham
(© 1991 - 2000 Books on Tape, Inc.)
Read by Scott Brick (Amer.)
Mystery > Fiction - Mystery & Detective
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
A young Harvard Law graduate settles into a career at a high-rolling Memphis law firm whose associates mysteriously keep dying.
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The Brethren
By John Grisham
(© 2000 - 2000 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Frank Muller (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Thrillers
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
Three former judges accidentally snare an innocent man with dangerous friends when their jailhouse scheme goes awry.
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The King of Torts
By John Grisham
(© 2003 - 2003 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Michael Beck (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Suspense
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
Public defender Clay Carter reluctantly takes on a murder case only to be transformed into the King of Torts.
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Skipping Christmas
By John Grisham
(© 2001 - 2001 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Dennis Boutsikaris (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
The Kranks attempt to bail out of the hysteria of Christmas by taking a Caribbean cruise.
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The Runaway Jury
By John Grisham
(© 1996 - 1997 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Frank Muller (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
A jury foreman follows his own agenda in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against a tobacco giant. Can justice prevail?
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The Chamber
By John Grisham
(© 1994 - 1994 Books on Tape, Inc.)
Read by Alexander Adams (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
Young Chicago lawyer takes case of Mississippi Klan member convicted for a murderous bombing.
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The Summons
By John Grisham
(© 2002 - 2002 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Michael Beck (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Legal
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
Judge Atlee has summoned his two boys, Ray and Forrest, home to discuss his estate before he dies. But Ray, the good son, is too late.
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The Appeal
By John Grisham
(© 2008 - 2008 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Michael Beck (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Suspense
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
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The Rainmaker
By John Grisham
(© 1995 - 2000 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Frank Muller (Amer.)
Mystery > Fiction - Mystery & Detective
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
Rudy Baylor, barely out of law school, finds himself taking on one of the most powerful and corrupt insurance companies in America.
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B-O-T Exclusive!
The Client
By John Grisham
(© 1993 - 1993 Books on Tape, Inc.)
Read by John Macdonald (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
An 11-year-old boy holds the killer clue to an attorney's suicide and a Louisiana senator's murder.
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B-O-T Exclusive!
A Time to Kill
By John Grisham
(© 1989 - 1993 Books on Tape, Inc.)
Read by Alexander Adams (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
The rape of a 10-year-old black girl by two white men brings a town to the edge of racial conflict.
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The Partner
By John Grisham
(© 1997 - 2000 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Frank Muller (Amer.)
Mystery > Fiction - Mystery & Detective
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
Patrick Lanigan faces trial for stealing ninety million dollars from his own Mississippi law firm.
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Bleachers
By John Grisham
(© 2003 - 2003 Random House, Inc.)
Read by John Grisham (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
An unforgettable novel about fleeting youth, high school football, legends, heroes, and the many ways boys become men.
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The Last Juror
By John Grisham
(© 2004 - 2004 Random House, Inc.)
Read by Michael Beck (Amer.)
Fiction > Fiction - Legal
Book Rating:

(Not yet rated)
Format: CD (Unabridged)
A convicted rapist and murderer returns to Ford County, Mississippi, seeking revenge on the jurors who dared convict him.
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