John Grisham - a "moderate Baptist"

Secondo di cinque fratelli, Grisham è nato nel 1955 a Jonesboro, Arkansas, in una modesta famiglia del sud.
Suo padre ha lavorato come operaio edile e coltivatore del cotone. Dopo essersi spostati spesso, la famiglia si è trasferita nel 1967 nella piccola città di Southaven, Mississippi.

Consigliato dalla madre, il giovane Grisham divenne un avido lettore, influenzato particolarmente dal lavoro di John Steinbeck di cui ammirava la chiarezza.

Mentre studiava alla Mississippi State University, Grisham cominciò a tenere un diario, una pratica che successivamente lo ha aiutato nelle sue attività creative.
Dopo aver conseguito la laurea in legge nel 1981, ha esercitato la professione di avvocato nella piccola città Southaven per quasi un decennio.

Nel 1983 venne eletto per i Democratici alla Camera dei Rappresentanti del Mississippi, dove resterà fino al 1990 pur continuando la sua professione di avvocato.
Nel suo tempo libero, e come hobby, Grisham cominciò a lavorare al suo primo romanzo, nel quale esplorava cosa sarebbe accaduto se il padre di una ragazza stuprata avesse assassinato i suoi aggressori.
Nel 1987, dopo tre anni di lavoro, la sua opera prima, A Time to Kill (Il momento di uccidere), venne completata; inizialmente rifiutata da diversi editori, venne infine accettata dalla Wynwood Press, che lo pubblicò nel giugno 1988 con una tiratura di sole 5.000 copie.

Appena finito di scrivere Il momento di uccidere, Grisham iniziò subito un nuovo romanzo.
Il cliente fu il settimo romanzo più venduto del 1991.
La rivista statunitense Publishers Weekly dichiarò Grisham: "Lo scrittore maggiormente venduto degli anni novanta", con un totale di 60.742.289 copie.

I suoi romanzi sono definiti legal thriller, riprendono molto dalla sua esperienza di avvocato e sono stati oggetto di numerose versioni cinematografiche.

Bibliografia
1989 - Il momento di uccidere (A Time to Kill), Mondadori (ISBN 8804506938)
1991 - Il socio (The Firm), Mondadori (ISBN 8804384581)
1992 - Il rapporto Pelican (The Pelican Brief)
1993 - Il cliente (The Client), Mondadori (ISBN 8804400102)
1994 - L'appello (The Chamber), Mondadori (ISBN 8804407220)
1995 - L'uomo della pioggia (The Rainmaker), Mondadori (ISBN 8804423013)
1996 - La giuria (The Runaway Jury), Mondadori (ISBN 8804408634)
1997 - Il partner (The Partner), Mondadori (ISBN 8804454121)
1998 - L'avvocato di strada (The Street Lawyer), Mondadori (ISBN 8804471905)
1999 - Il testamento (The Testament), Mondadori (ISBN 8804484012)
2000 - I confratelli (The Brethren), Mondadori (ISBN 8804498528)
2001 - La casa dipinta (A Painted House), Mondadori (ISBN 8804505281)
2001 - Fuga dal Natale (Skipping Christmas), Mondadori (ISBN 8804536799)
2002 - La convocazione (The Summons), Mondadori (ISBN 8804519886)
2003 - Il re dei torti (The King of Torts), Mondadori (ISBN 8804536500)
2003 - L'allenatore (Bleachers), Mondadori (ISBN 8804546387)
2004 - L'ultimo giurato (The Last Juror), Mondadori (ISBN 8804550228)
2005 - Il broker (The Broker), Mondadori (ISBN 8804539224)
2006 - Innocente. Una storia vera (The Innocent Man), Mondadori (ISBN 8804559942)
(http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grisham)
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The second oldest of five siblings was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Southern Baptist parents of modest means. His father worked as a construction worker and a cotton farmer; his mother was a homemaker.[1] After moving frequently, the family settled in 1967 in the town of Southaven in De Soto County, Mississippi, where Grisham graduated from Southaven High School. While there, he played QB for the High School football team. Unlike the main character in his 2003 novel, Bleachers (novel), he wasn't an All-American football player. Encouraged by his mother, the young Grisham was an avid reader, and was especially influenced by the work of John Steinbeck whose clarity he admired.

In 1977, Grisham received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Mississippi State University. While studying at MSU, the author began keeping a journal, a practice that would later assist in his creative endeavors. Grisham tried out for the baseball team at Delta State University but was cut by the coach and former Boston Red Sox Pitcher Dave Ferriss. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. During law school, Grisham switched interests from tax law to criminal and general civil litigation. Upon graduation he entered a small-town general law practice for nearly a decade in Southaven, where he focused on criminal law and civil law representing a broad spectrum of clients. As a young attorney, he spent much of his time in court proceedings and preparing for court the following morning.

In 1983, he was elected as a Democrat to the Mississippi House of Representatives, where he served until 1990. During his time as a legislator, he continued his private law practice in Southaven. He has donated over $100,000 to Democratic Party candidates. In September 2007, Grisham appeared with Hillary Rodham Clinton, his choice for U.S. President in 2008, and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, whom Grisham supports for the U.S. Senate being vacated by Republican John Warner (no relation). Grisham himself had considered challenging former GOP U.S. Senator George Allen, Jr., in the 2006 election in which Allen was narrowly defeated by the Democrat James Webb.[2]

He spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987.
Initially rejected by many publishers, the manuscript eventually was bought by Wynwood Press, which gave it a modest 5,000-copy printing and published it in June 1988.

The day after Grisham completed A Time to Kill, he began work on another novel, the story of a young attorney lured to an apparently perfect law firm that was not what it appeared.
That second book, The Firm became the 7th bestselling novel of 1991.
Grisham then went on to produce at least one work a year, most of them widely popular bestsellers.
He has been incredibly successful in that he holds the title for being the sole person to author a number one bestselling novel of the year for seven consecutive years (1994 - 2000).

Beginning with A Painted House in 2001, the author broadened his focus from law to the more general rural south, all the while continuing to pen his legal thrillers.

Publishers Weekly declared Grisham "the bestselling novelist of the 90s," selling a total of 60,742,289 copies. He is also one of only a few authors to sell two million copies on a first printing (Tom Clancy is another; J.K. Rowling surpasses them both) .
Grisham's 1992 novel The Pelican Brief sold 11,232,480 copies in the United States alone.

Grisham is also well known within the literary community for his efforts to support the continuing literary tradition of his native South. Grisham has endowed scholarships and writer's residencies in the University of Mississippi's English Department and Graduate Creative Writing Program, and was the founding publisher of the Oxford American, a 'slick' magazine devoted to literary writing and famous for its annual music issue, copies of which include a compilation CD featuring contemporary and classic Southern musicians in genres ranging from blues and gospel to country-western and alternative rock.

Grisham describes himself as a "moderate Baptist", and he has performed mission service for his church, notably in Brazil. He lives with his wife, Renée, (née Jones) and their two children, Ty and Shea. The family splits their time between their Victorian home on a farm outside Oxford, Mississippi and a farm near Charlottesville, Virginia.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grisham)