Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

I recently finished John Grisham’s latest legal thriller, The Appeal. Before I get started with my review, let me state for the record that I am a fan of Grisham, so the following review … pains me.

I have enjoyed every Grisham novel I’ve read over the years and I was thoroughly expecting another great thriller. Sure, his novels have become formulaic over the years, but they’re still fun to read. It’s like watching a TV crime drama; you can layout the basic plot (they think they catch the bad guy, but you know it’s not him because it’s too early in the show), but how the storyline evolves is what makes the book interesting.

Anyhow, I’m sorry to say that for the first time, I did not enjoy a book by my favorite author. I’m sure it was bound to happen at some point. Even the great authors can’t write something that everyone will enjoy every time. I’m sure there are those who enjoyed this book, though I’m not sure why.

The book has several main characters but the three primary characters are a husband/wife lawyer team in small Mississippi tonw and a 30-something lawyer who is handpicked by a mysterious lobbying group to run for a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court.

The husband/wife team just won a $41 million settlement on behalf of their client, a woman who lost her husband and young son to cancer because the drank water contaminated by an evil chemical company that had been dumping poisonous chemicals. Of course the chemical company hires the best lawyers money can buy. Meanwhile, the husband/wife team has basically gone broke fighting this case. They once lived a comfortable life, but are no so far in debt, they’re about to lose everything, but continue to fight for their neighbors who have died or are dying.

While the case runs its course of appeals, a mysterious group is working to get an ultraconservative, cleancut lawyer with a beautiful wife, two great kids and no skeletons in the closet, elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The idea is to braek the “liberal” 5-4 edge the court has had for years, thus making Mississippi a very favorable state for trial lawyers with big lawsuits. Having a liberal court means big settlements. So, by ousting the tie-breaking vote and electing a young ultraconservative, the chemical company will have a friendly court by the time the case reaches the state Supreme Court.

The writing is intriguing and the character development is typical Grisham. No complaints there. It was the ending. It was such a disappointing ending that when I finished the last page, I closed the book and said out loud, “What the [bleep] was that!?”

Where was the smoking gun? Where was the cloak and dagger? The “ah HA!” moment? It was … too real. It’s what I would expect to read in a newspaper. If I wanted real life, I’d read a newspaper. I want escapism. I want what I can’t get in real life. I want the unreal. I - want - fiction. Not realism posing as fiction.

Maybe I’m missing something? Maybe I’m not “smart enough” to get it … but I doubt that’s the reason. I think John, and yes, he actually told me in person that I could call him John (more on that later), wrote a book that I don’t like. Notice that I didn’t say it was a bad book. I simply stated that I didn’t like it. Maybe you will. If you do, let me know what you think.

As for my meeting with John; it took place in 2000, the day his book “The Brethren” was released. I was a volunteer baseball coach for St. Anne’s Belfield school in Charlottesville, VA. The first day of spring tryouts was coming to a close (and my knees were killing me from catching all the young wannabe pitchers) when this guy comes walking. I was standing next to the head coach as the man approached.

He looked very familiar and then the HC introduced me … “Gary, this is John Grisham, one of our volunteer assistant coaches.” It was all I could do to get out “Nice to meet you Mr. Grisham.” To which, John responded with, “Please, call me John.” Wow. I was suddenly on a first name basis with my favorite author … sweet.

Then, what he said next floored me. He cocked his head to the side and squinted his eyes at me as if he was thinking, then said, “You’re the sports anchor at Channel 29, aren’t you? Yeah, I thought I recognized you.”

John Grisham recognized me from TV! How funny and ironic that someone as famous as John Grisham recognized ME from TV. Clearly, this was one of the non-family-related highlights of my life and one that I will remember for all time.

John was (and still is I would assume) a great guy! He bought pizza after Saturday practices and picked them up himself in his not-brand-new SUV, which I think was an old Suburban. He chalked the fields before games and was just as down to Earth as you could possible imagine. His son Ty played at St. Anne’s and later got a scholarship to play at UVA. I ran into him (figuratively) at a UVA game and even though it’d been a year or so, he still remembered me. Now, I know I’m not THAT memorable, so it’s clear that John has a very good memory.

Well, that’s my book review / namedropping post for today. I hope everyone’s doing well!