20 Don't Pull Your Hair Out, July 2010 Interview


Author Grishammakes his case forchildren’sfiction


In arare interview,bestselling thriller writer JOHN GRISHAM, whose books The Firm, The Client and The Pelican Brief were made into films, talks about Theodore Boone, the first in his new series aimed at children and adults, his life out of the spotlight and his hopes for another Hollywood blockbuster.


By Hannah Stephenson H


IS legal thrillersgrace the best-seller shelves of virtually every main-


stream bookshoponthe planet and areamong the most popular choices for travellers. Indeed, John Grisham


once held an impromptu book signing session on a 747 after wordgot around that he was in first class and piles of his novels were passed to the front of the plane by fellow passengers wanting an autograph. Yetthe former Mississippi


TheodoreBoone, the first in anew children’sseries aimed at eight to 12-year- olds. The eponymous hero, a


13-year-old legal eagle whose parents arebusy lawyers, spendsalot of time in the courthouse,knows all the officials, policeand judgesand advises friends and their parents on every- thing from rescuing an impounded dog to drink- driving offencesand mort- gage repossessions. The plot thickens as Theo


lawyerremains alargely anonymous figure. He can stand under ahuge billboard of his latestnovel in virtually any bookshop and go unno- ticed –and that’sjust the way he likes it. “I laugh when Itell people


I’m afamous writer in a country wherenobody reads,” he says in his deep Southerndrawl. While many of his books


have been made into big budgetmovies, Grisham has never yearned for aglitzy lifestyle in Hollywood. The 55-year-old ex-lawyer, whose legal thrillers have sold in their millions, been translated into 29 languages and published in morethan 40 countries, prefers to go quietly about the business of writing, does very few inter- views and stays out of the spotlight, livingonhis 1,000- acrefarm in rural Virginia with his wife, Renee,to whom he has been married for nearly30years. But on his first visit to


is drawn into amurder trial when he finds awitness whose evidence could changethe verdict. As in all Grisham’sbooks, there’sa dilemma –the witness does- n’twant to be identified. Grisham says his move


Grisham's unsureabout whether TheodoreBoone will be made into afilm, although discussions are ongoing, he says. But he seems alittle disillusioned by Hollywood. “With every one of my books Iwould love to see a wonderful movie because we all love to watch agood movie and I’ve been lucky in that regard. However,inthe past 10 years it’sbeen virtu- ally impossible to get afilm made. “The industry is so different


into children’sfiction was mostlytoencourage children to read and educate them about the law –but he also had another motive. “I’m tryingtocatch Harry


Potter, I’ve been after him for 10 years,” he jokes. “Back in the Nineties Iwas


routinely introduced as the best-selling authorinthe world and Iwas trying to act like it was no big deal, then along came Harry Potterand suddenly Ibecame No 2. I really miss being No 1. No, I’m joking.” His best-selling statusbut


relative anonymity have allowed him to retain his pri- vacy and lead as normala familylife as possible. “You get the benefit of the


England in four years he is affable,morecasual than the smart-suited ex-lawyer I’d expected, and has adry sense of humour. “We’rebumpkins,” he


explains. “I’m just not cut out for city life. Iwalk down the street in New York or Chicago, or almostevery state Igoto, and nobody recognises me. That’sgood. I don’twant to be recognised." Today he’skeen to talk about his latestnovel,


Theodore Boone’s children’s version (left) and the adult one (right)


now.The one type of film not being made today is adult drama. We have stupid teenage movies, romantic comedies, chick flicks, spe- cial effects and big action, but very few adult dramas.” Grisham had no control


over the making of his three most successful film adapta- tions –The Firm, The Client and The Pelican Brief. “The movies wereall


released within 12 months, they all grossed $100 million in the US and morearound the world and had famous movie stars. “Now 15 years later,I


People say,‘They screwed up your story’. No they did- n’t. They can’tchange a wordofthe book.” Today,Grisham has more


realise how important those early three movies wereto everything that’sfollowed. I’ve had nine books adapted and I’ve enjoyed watching all the movies, with the excep- tion of The Chamber,which was dreadful.” But arehis stories


popularity of the books with- out havingtodeal with peo- ple,” he reflects.


unrecognisable on the big screen? “It’snever how I’d envi- sioned it. But Idon’tlose a lot of sleep worrying about what they’redoing to it.


clout when selling film rights. He can approve the screen- writer,the director,the script and can veto the top three or four cast members. But he’d rather just be writing his stories. “When you have that type


of authority,you get dragged into the film-making process, which is not whereIwant to be,” he says. “Right now thereare five


projects in development, which means nothing’shap- pening.” BorninJonesboro, Arkansas, to aconstruction worker and ahomemaker, Grisham dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realising he wasn’tgoing to make the grade, he became alawyer and practised for 10 years. One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overhead the harrowing tes- timony of a12-year-old rape victim and was inspired to write his first novel, ATime To Kill. It was rejected by 28 publishers beforeitwas finally accepted and pub- lished in 1988, selling only 5,000 copies. “Writing was asecret


hobby.Itwas adiversion and so Ipursued that enthu- siastically and the law career became less and less appealing.” But when the film rights to


his second novel, The Firm, weresnapped up by Paramount for astaggering $600,000, this moment changed his life. The novel spent aspectacular 47 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. His fortune enabled him to


build Cove Creek Park, an enormous baseball park wherethe local kids can enjoy the game closest to his heart. He still pays for its upkeep and takes an active interest. Grisham may have branched out into children’s books but he’skeen to con- tinue with the legal thrillers. The next one, The Confession, is due out in the autumn. He generally pro- duces one book ayear but never rests on his laurels. Therewill be at least one


moreTheodoreBoone book and hopefully awhole series, he says. But will his young herobecome as famous as Harry Potter? “I'm not sureanybody’s


going to be as famous as Harry Potter,” he smiles, “but if Theo gets close I’ll be happy.”


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