John Grisham

John Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on February 8, 1955. He had a very ordinary childhood, however, he does note that his mother instilled a real love for reading in him at a very young age. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1977 with an undergraduate degree in accounting. He then went to law school at the University of Mississippi where he graduated in 1981. After graduation, he entered a general law practice in the small town of Southhaven. In 1983, he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. During the six years he served there he continued to practice law in Southhaven.

Grisham finished his first book “A Time to Kill” in 1984. It was said that as he watched the excruciating testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim, he began to wonder what would happen to a father who killed his daughter’s rapist. He had a hard time getting the book published and it received very mixed reviews. The same was not so for his second book “The Firm,” which shot up to No. 1 on the best sellers list, becoming the seventh bestselling novel of 1991, and was later made into a movie starring Tom Cruise. In fact, 12 of his 22 books have been made into a motion picture. Although most of his books are legal thrillers, he has departed from this writing style a few times as with “Skipping Christmas” (2001), which inspired the motion picture Christmas with the Kranks (2004.)

His most recent books are “Playing for Pizza” (2007), “The Appeal” (2008) and his newest release “The Associate” (2009.)