From The Firm to The Exchange

A thirty-year fan celebrates his favorites (and least favorites) of Grisham’s career

While in High School in the early 1990s I was gifted a book by a friend who was adamant that I delay not in reading it, so great was the story. Skepticism evident in every line of my face, I accepted the book and mumbled a vague commitment to do as he asked. From my ivory tower of being a bookish nerd I tended to view askance a reading recommendation from the very acme of a school Jock, good friend though he was. Luke Leaman is a world-renowned fitness guru today, and that I have been a devoted John Grisham fan for the last thirty years is a credit to his ability to recommend quality authors. The book was The Firm, and for the first and last time I devoured a book cover to cover in one sitting. The pace of the book, the nail-biting drama, the lush description of the setting which almost made the city of Memphis another character, and the satisfactory, wholly unexpected denouement of the story combined to make me appreciate a book as never before. Soon we will be graced with another opportunity to revisit the world of Mitch McDeere in the new novel by Grisham, The Exchange. I almost feel like I am back in High School again, although I now share Eleanor of Aquitaine's opinion from The Lion in Winter, "Mirrors no longer have any tact."

Upon the heels of having read The Firm, I began searching for other work by the author and found a book even more enjoyable, A Time to Kill. The story of a valiant young attorney, standing alone against racism and the certain doom of his client, spoke to the better angels of my nature. The way that every loose thread was so satisfactorily tied up by the end of the novel was rewarding. How could a book about murder, courtroom drama, and the Klan make the reader feel so good? Because the author drew his characters in such a sympathetic light that one almost forgets that they are fiction. It is a book I return to time and again, and one of the few modern novels that hold pride of place in my library.

After the success of The Firm it seems that Grisham's output exploded, and it was hard to stay abreast of his latest work. Batting a thousand, Grisham published The Pelican Brief in 1992. Wildlife protection, natural resource conservation and legal intrigue make for strong literary soup. Much debate has taken place over the quality of the novel verses the film which released a year later. I can't read the novel today without visualizing Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington as the lead characters.

The Rainmaker, Runaway Jury, and The Chamber were all popular among my Law School friends. It seems that Grisham, having the shared experience of a student of law was speaking directly to us. Each of these novels were made into gut wrenching films with a devoted following. As was the novel The Client. In each of John Grisham's work there seems to be characters that are relatable to every reader, be they underprivileged children, desperate folks victimized by their ignorance of the law, young attorneys striving to uphold the ethics of a profession they view as noble, or the corrupt addicted to wealth and power. Perhaps that is why we the reading public have so warmed to his work. If Erin Brockovich had been a fictional character she would have been drawn by John Grisham.

However, I didn't connect with all of Grisham's novels. My mother wept over A Painted House, but I found it too much like Erskine Caldwell to fully appreciate the plot. The Reckoning was a sober reminder that even when the law is on 'your side' each of us can be the victim of the machinations of the American court system. This book reminded me of Les Miserables, in that nothing good ever happens to the protagonists, and only the villains champion in the end. Undoubtably, this is due to my own personal preferences; clearly there are readers who don't mind the twist of the knife at a story's end. "Et tu, Brute?"

I relish the prospect of catching up with Mitch McDeere, the ambitious, freshly minted attorney, of The Firm. When we left him last he had escaped certain doom at the hands of the Mafia, double crossed the FBI to secure the release of his incarcerated brother, and was plotting escape with his devoted wife Abby. What new adventures are in store for Mitch in The Exchange?

Read more by William Shelton