One of my favorite authors is John Grisham, a writer of many well known fictitious legal thrillers. I will discuss some of his works and provide some biographical information about him as well. John Grisham has written about twenty-two novels. Several of his books have been made into movies as well. Some of the most popular movies are the following: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, a Time To Kill and The Client. Before I discuss his books, I will provide some biographical information about him.
Now, let's get to the biographical information. John Grisham was born in 1955 in Arkansas. He currently lives in Mississippi. Before he became a successful author, he was a lawyer and a politician. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State and received his law degree from the University of Mississippi. In 1983, he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives and served until 1990. As you will see in the next section, his legal expertise comes into play in many of his various novels.
As of 2008, there have been 250 million copies of his books sold worldwide. I would say that is a lot of books written and sold. He has written about twenty-two novels including a non fiction work, titled A Painted House. There have been several movies produced based on his books. For example, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Client. My favorite movie is the Pelican Brief which starred Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts. In this article, I am going to talk about my four favorite books and why they are my favorites. In addition, to explaining why I like these particular books I will give a brief preview of the plots.
The first book I will discuss is The Firm. The Firm is about a small law firm located in Memphis, Tennessee. The law firm has about forty attorneys that work for it. The lawyers are all handsomely compensated to work for the law firm. The law firm recruits a young man who just graduated from Harvard named Mitchell McDeere. There is catch, though no one ever leaves the firm. The lawyers don't necessarily leave the firm through retirement. I like this book for the easy to read language that John Grisham used and that there is an air of mystery surrounding the law firm. I wonder why no one leaves the firm, if not through retirement. It piques my curiosity and makes me want to reread the novel to see the outcome. I think it is a good legal thriller and quite entertaining to read.
The second book, that is my favorite is A Time to Kill. A Time to Kill was John Grisham's first novel that he wrote. A Time to Kill is a about the rape of a little black girl by a couple of white men. The girl's father eventually kills the suspects. I think the book has racial overtones and overtones of vigilantism. The book takes place in the rural Deep South. A crime like this can occur anywhere in the country, whether it is in the East, West or Midwest. I like this book as well, for its easy reading style and makes me think about the issues it raised.
The third book I will talk about is The Pelican Brief. The Pelican Brief is about two Supreme Court Justices that are killed. One judge is liberal and the other is conservative. A law student sets out to investigates why these judges were killed. This plot is little more complex than the other two books that I discussed. The book does have some political overtones, but upon reading it you may find that politics may not be the only thing at work here. That is why liked this book because of the political angle and the complexity of the plot. I also found this novel to be fast paced and a real good page turner.
The last book I want to talk about is The Rainmaker. The Rainmaker is about a health insurance company, Great Benefit Life Insurance, that denies every claim regardless of its validity. I like this book the most out of the four because it raises a very important question, which goes beyond politics. Is it right for a health insurer to deny claims regardless of the validity of the claim? I think it important to read this book today especially against the current backdrop of the debate on health care reform.
Overall, these four books are my favorites because they are easy to follow and the plots aren't too complex. I also like that Grisham uses everyday simple language to engage the reader. When I go to the beach or take vacation, I always make sure to have a John Grisham novel to read. If anyone is an avid reader, I would suggest they read a John Grisham novel.
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