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Summary
Summary
With his seven legal thrillers, all published since 1989, John Grisham has won a huge following of readers and set a standard few contributors to the genre can match. Because of the success of his novels, the legal thriller is the most popular genre in American fiction today. In this study, Pringle explains how Grisham's legal thriller evolved from the thriller tradition and borrowed from the heroic romance novel, gothic novel, crime novel, and detective fiction. She shows how his novels examine contemporary social and legal problems that do not have simple solutions--ecology, ethnic relations, capital punishment, corporate greed, and health insurance--and how he depicts both the legal system and lawyers in their best and worst lights.
Following a biographical chapter that focuses on Grisham's childhood in Arkansas, education, political career, and development as a writer, Pringle examines the legal thriller, its antecedents, and Grisham's contribution to the genre. An individual chapter is devoted to analysis of each of his novels. Each chapter synopsizes the novel, discusses its reception by critics, and features sections on plot development, character development, social/historical context and issues, and an alternative critical perspective from which to approach the novel, such as psychoanalytic theory or feminist criticism. The work includes a complete bibliography of Grisham's work, critical sources, and list of reviews of all of his novels. Because of Grisham's popularity with adults and young adults and the contemporary issues he raises, this study is valuable to students, book discussion group participants, and other interested readers, and is an essential purchase for school and public libraries.
Reviews (1)
Choice Review
The unique "Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers" series studies best-selling authors such as Tom Clancy and Stephen King. A so-called serious fiction writer might fear inclusion. At best, the volumes in the series provide a mirror of the intentions of these writers (with the result that they seem more serious than commercial) and should not be confused with Cliff Notes or Monarch Notes. Each of the works follows a standard format: first an overview, then a closer look at characterization, setting, theme, and relationship to previous works. In addition, biographical material allows the student to place the authors within the milieu of their novels. Here, Pringle (Wright State Univ.) reveals that Grisham is a distant cousin of the president and that he earned a D in a freshman comp course. In examining the novels she looks at The Chamber and discusses the amount of research Grisham undertook to create a successful study of his topic (the death penalty) and brings to bear new historicism. Pringle points out that in The Runaway Jury, the most recent work discussed in this volume, Grisham uses the novel to stage a "documentary" on "big tobacco." Her attitude is neither doctrinaire nor idolatrous. The bibliography relies on articles ranging from USA Today to The Nation. General and lower-division undergraduate readers interested in popular culture. A. Hirsh; Central Connecticut State University
Table of Contents
| Series ForewordKathleen Gregory |
| Klein Life ofJohn Grisham and John Grisham and Legal Thriller A Time To Kill (1989) |
| The Firm (1991) |
| The Pelican Brief (1992) |
| The Client (1993) |
| The Chamber (1994) |
| The Rainmaker (1995) |
| The Runaway Jury (1996) |
| Bibliography |
| Index |