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I’m not quite sure what a “shiznit” is, but I’m quite sure I’m the first person to ever call John Grisham one. I have an ever-changing leaderboard in my head that contains my favorite writers. The usuals are up there: Lewis, Tolkien, Bradbury, Chesterton, Twain, Caroll, Fitzgerald, Shelley, Card, Sandburg, Blake (yes, i read like a mad schizophrenic). But interestingly, popular author John Grisham consitantly cracks my top 10-ish favorites.
I certainly admire him for the fact that he can crank out about one new best selling novel per year, but there’s something in his writing that I really love. Even in his more formulaic novels (where a southern lawyer skyrockets to lawyerly success, gets consumed by a lawyerly lavish lavish lifestyle, and either crashes and burns, or comes out of it a better man) Grisham has a way with characters and dialogue that makes even the rottenest lawyerly villain come to life in such a way that you wish you could invite them over to your house and chat with them about anything in the world. I still remember the characters from The Testament, the first Grisham novel I ever read.
I recently finished reading The Broker (not his usual formula, but a variation on a theme) and Bleachers (which is an entirely original creation — Grisham is one of novel writing’s 100lb gorillas.) I was really impressed with The Broker as a novel designed to pay the bills. Like some of Grisham’s designed-to-be-best-sellers it kept me on the edge of my seat through the story, but it really fizzled out at the end.
On the other hand, Bleachers was an exquisite example of Grisham’s character-creating expertise. It was an entirely unique story with nary a lawyer in sight. It follows the legacy of a tough-as-nuts highschool football coach in a town ruled by highschool football. For 30 years, he ran the highschool football program with an iron fist, touching lives, making human mistakes, and causing all sorts of human drama. As he lies on his death bed, the players from the glory days return to town, re-opening some old wounds and healing others. Bleachers relies entirely on Grisham’s mastery of character. Not only are there no legal tricks, but there’s also almost no action to speak of.
Another thing of Grisham’s that I find attractive is his constant use of corruption and redemption as a theme. Ever since I read The Testament, it’s been something that stands out like a blazing bat signal in any story of his that I’ve read. Stephen King doesn’t have it, Clive Cussler doesn’t have it, and Michael Crichton doesn’t have it. Frank Peretti has it, but his use of redemption is almost too obvious. No other “popular” author I’ve read can be as subtle with the theme of redemption, and as vivid with character as Grisham.