John Grisham Profile

"I find myself taking long walks on my farm with my wife, Renee, wondering what in the world happened," says Grisham.

The best-selling novelist in America. John Grisham showed no early interest in writing. One day in 1984, three years after Grisham began practicing law in Southaven, Mississippi, he dropped by the courthouse to observe a trial. "This ten year old girl was testifying against a man who had raped her and left her for dead," he says. "I never felt such emotion and human drama in my life. I became obsessed wondering what it would be like if the girl's father killed that rapist and was put on trial. I had to write it down."

Grisham has hardly stopped writing since then. Grisham's first novel, A Time To Kill, was published in 1989 and sold a mere 5,000 copies. But his second, The Firm, the story of a law school grad recruited by a firm with mob connections, spent a spectacular 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. His book, The Pelican Brief, about a female law student investigating the murders of two Supreme Court justices, was judged "an even stronger performance" than The Firm." Once Grisham started writing, he never stopped. Every year brings a new besteller from the master of the legal thriller.