John Grisham is a name and a man that garners an immediate reaction from his colleagues and his fans. According to Publisher's Weekly, one of the publishing industry's premiere publications, "It seems safe to de
clare John Grisham the bestselling novelist of the ?90s. Consider these astounding statistics: "From the time the author's first megaseller, The Firm, hit sores back in March 1991 to when his ninth book, The Street Lawyer, goes on sale in the first week
of February (of 1998), about 357 weeks will have elapsed. During that time, Grisham's hardcover bestsellers have been on PW's weekly fiction charts for 236 weeks and on our paperback charts for 369." Even a mere amateur realizes that it is no small feat
to accomplish these types of sales figure. There may be those that will contest Grisham's ability to create a good story, but few will protest his title as king of bestseller. With figures like the ones that Grisham posts, it is not surprising that eac
h book he publishes is waited for with baited breath. There is a scramble between bookstore owners, film producer, directors, actors, and others for a piece of the revenue to be generated from Grisham's latest project. Although Grisham is a quite and mo
dest man, he does recognize that he has a profound impact on this industry. "You'd have to say that I've had a profound impact on this genre," Grisham comments . . . "I'm aware of, first of all, how it affects my publisher. But you know, if I skipped a
year or two, my publisher's going to survive. I'll tell you what I think about: When I'm in one of those real small bookstores, some of the stores I've gone to for years to sign books, going back to A Time to Kill, I confess I've had the thought, ?What
if I skipped a year?' It would have a significant impact on the store." It is admirable that Grisham recognizes that his impact on the publishing industry may be slight, but the greater impression is left on the smaller businesses and the individuals tha
t have always supported him. It is the type of attitude where the little guy triumph and good gives evil a good kick in the pants that make Jon Grisham's books so appealing.
Although John Grisham has recently published his ninth novel, it is important to examine those works that came earlier in his career. These novels help to create the image that is the current man. An important novel in John Grisham's career was the thi
rd novel, The Pelican Brief. Although this may seem like a strange choice, its success has important implications and ramifications for Grisham's career. The Pelican Brief was published in March of 1992 by Doubleday Publishing company. This novel came
directly after Grisham's second novel, The Firm, had just spent 46 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. It may be difficult to conceptualize, but this almost the entire year on the best-seller list when most titles tend to come and go. This min
d boggling success meant that there was a frenzy building over the publication of his third novel. The Firm essentially set the stage for the success of The Pelican Brief. There were those that were anticipating another great novel by Grisham, those th
at wanted to see if he cold match the success of The Firm, and there were those that wanted to experience John Grisham for the first time. The extended run of The Firm on the New York Times best-seller list set up a win-win situation for Grisham. There
was no doubt in anyone's mind that The Pelican Brief would be a success, the major question was simply "How much?" People did not know if this novel could out do its predecessor, but there was hope that it would. After The Pelican Brief was published, i
t managed to become the book with the longest time on the Publisher's Weekly charts with a total of 48 weeks. The Pelican Brief was expected to be successful after Grishams last offering, but it is hardly reasonable to anticipate that type of success. T
his is not to say that Grisham and Doubleday were not happy with the results. Not only did this book further confirm Grisham's ability to keep his readers entertained and coming back for more, but it continued to substantiate his growing status as king o
f the best-seller.
It is important to recognize that the success of The Pelican Brief can not simply be attributed to the sales of The Firm. This is a significant part of the initial sales, but the book must have some quality that causes the initial readers to recommend i
t to their friends and reviewers to endorse the book for their readers. John Grisham is able to capitalize on the age that Americans currently live in. It is no secret that all of his books involve lawyers but most of all they involve the little guy ou
tlasting the diabolical techniques of whatever big industry is involved in the conflict. The simplest explanation of Grisham's appeal was given by Jeffery Toobin of the Chicago Tribune when he stated, "Grisham's law is, the more powerful the figure, the
more sinister." It is no secret that this country was built on the principle of working hard and working one's way to the top. Therefore, it is not surprising that Grisham's ability to focus his novels on the hard working individuals getting his/her rew
ard give his novels a universal appeal. As John Skow stated in review for Time, "It's not a great surprise that The Pelican Brief, Grisham's new novel, is as close to its predecessor as you can get without running The Firm through the office copier. As
before, a handsome young couple are pursued by thugs. In the background are members of a corrupt law firm who sleazily shuffle paper, rack up grossly inflatable billable hours, and conspire in the bumping off of a couple of liberal Supreme Court Justices
." Grisham has found a formula that works and he sticks to it. He may change the characters, profession, or setting, but Grisham maintains the same elements that make The Firm the highest mass market in-print at 13,075,000 copies. There is nothing wron
g with Grisham's approach to his writing and his fans do not seem to have a problem with it since they continue to purchase his books at alarming rates. There is a comforting nature to John Grisham's books that people appreciate. There may be twists and
turns throughout the novel, but in the end the conclusion satisfies the reader. Grisham knows how to create a story that enable reviewers to utter statements like, "John Grisham has done it again . . .the new novel shares with "The Firm" a narrative dri
ve that welcomes readers to suspend disbelief. Grisham knows how to drop hints and red herrings with the best of them, and he writes good dialogue. Grisham does cheat a little when he lets virtually every character in the novel know what's in the darned
brief before he finally clues in his reader, near the end of the book. Still, he does keep some suspense rolling along and delivers a punchy, if not exactly surprising conclusion." The fans know that they will be entertained and that in the end they wil
l feel a little better about the world they live in.
John Grisham may not be the greatest writer of his time, but he has the ability to create good characters. Grisham creates the two main characters in The Pelican Brief that appeal to both his male and female audience. By captivating both sexes of the p
opulation, Grisham is able to keep his audience interested. The female lead of this novel, Darby Shaw, is described as the all-American girl with a twist. She is as sharp as a whip, but her intelligence does not offend men because she manages to exude a
certain type of sexuality that keeps men interested in her. The sexually titillating nature of some of Grisham's descriptions does not leave a question as to why a male audience would be interested in the character of Darby Shaw, "The door opened quick
ly and an attractive young female in tight washed jeans and a cotton sweater slid elegantly through it and sort of glided along the wall to the third row, where she deftly maneuvered between the crowded seats until she came to hers and sat down. The guys
on the fourth row watched in admiration. The guys on the fifth row strained for a peek. For two brutal years now, one of the few pleasures of law school had been to watch as she graced the halls and rooms with her long legs and baggy sweaters. There w
as a fabulous body in there somewhere, they could tell . . . What they wouldn't give for a black leather miniskirt" (The Pelican Brief, 12). There is no question that the average male will want to find out more about this girl and what makes her tick. A
nd based on this desire to learn more, Grisham hooks the reader. The female audience should not feel left out because Grisham does provide for their curiosity. Although the description of Gray Grantham is not as in-depth as that of Darby Shaw, Grisham d
oes play on the appeal of bad boy to a feminine audience. Grisham introduces Gray as "s serious, ethical reporter with just a touch a sleaze, and when he needed a dirty trick, he called. He liked Grantham because he was honest about sleaziness. The re
st were so pious" (The Pelican Brief, 129). So John Grisham establishes Grantham as a reporter that is willing to do what it takes to get to the truth. There is a rebel with a cause aspect to his personality since he is one of the few reporter that is h
onest about his willingness to use underhanded tricks to get to the truth. This appeals to a female audience because he is a bad boy, but he is fighting for the good of the people. Therefore, the reasoning is that the people he hurts need to be stooped
and are the ones causing the primary hurt to society. Since, these people can not play fair, then Gray should not be expected to play fair either. The diversity of Grisham's main characters give The Pelican Brief a cross cultural and cross gender allure
.
A reporter in his review of the Pelican Brief pinpointed the exact reason why there was a tremendous rush to obtain the movie right to The Pelican Brief, "Some books are born to movie deals, others have movie deals thrust upon them. This one bears the b
ox-office chromosome . . . What makes this Hollywood fodder is Grisham's ability to mix and match the elements of commercial fiction. The symbiosis is almost irresistible." With these words, this reporter characterized the power that John Grisham posses
in literary world and in Hollywood. It is the universality of Grisham's appeal that allows his novel to address one of the most taboo subjects in society without tremendous criticism from the viewing public or reading public. In the movie adaptation of
The Pelican Brief (1994), Darby Shaw, the principal female character in the Pelican Brief, is white, while her counterpart Gray Grantham is an African American male. Darby Shaw is portrayed by Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington plays Gray Grantham. It
is surprising and explosive that Grisham choose to pair these two individuals in a romantic relationship on the big screen. Now Grisham does not write love scenes like Danielle Steele and one is not included in the movie, but the implication is still ve
ry prevalent. Although in the novel there is a sexual relationship between the two characters, this does not occur in the movie. This may be the ?90s, but that type of relationship is still a controversial topic in society. But no one that has read the
book is screaming bloody murder. This does not men that all of Grisham's readers are open minded, but it has more to do with the fact that the two individuals involved in this struggle are a part of a situation where a greater evil is involved. The mov
ie characterization of Grantham as a black man does not betray their perception of the personality of the character. Darby and Gray must fight for their survival and in the case of the movie, color is not the pertinent issue. As Frank Prial of the New Y
ork Times Book Review said, "Mr. Grisham has written a genuine page-turner. He has an ear for dialogue and as a skillful craftsman. Like a composer, he brings all his themes together at the crucial moment for a gripping and logical finale." The story t
hat Grisham resents is so enrapturing to the reader that the issue of color is forgotten when it is portrayed on screen. The viewer lends support to Darby and Gray because fight for something they both believe in and put their lives on the line in the pr
ocess. Although John Grisham never preaches about the ill of prejudice in society today, he does make a statement in his choice of color for his characters in the movie. He could have chosen to have made all of the main characters Caucasian, but he did
not. He choose to have an African-American as a central character in a major Hollywood production based on a mass market publication. His writing ability allows the audience to accept the character wholeheartedly and cheer for his triumph in the end. J
ohn Grisham is not often praised for his inventiveness, but he does present a unique perspective in The Pelican Brief the movie that is not usually examined in Hollywood: a black male that is successful, courageous, and righteous. The movie was a success
, but it did receive criticism for not pursuing the relationship between Darby and Gray on the screen. The movie did not put The Pelican Brief back on top of The New York Times Best Seller List, but it did add to it total for the number of books in print.
In the end, it must be said that The Pelican Brief was well received by the public upon its publication. Grisham's previous success with The Firm helped The Pelican Brief to attain its initial number one status, but it was the novel itself that sustaine
d its lengthy stay on The New York Times best seller list. John Grisham ability to manipulate the thriller formula is displayed in The Pelican Brief. Grisham has the ability to capture the reader's attention and kept it until the end of the novel. Few
authors can boast of the power that Grisham holds over the best seller list and the literary world. His books may all be written in the same image, but the universality of the characters and the evil that they battle keep the American public enthralled a
nd begging for more.