Ford County: Stories

Short stories that make real sense & have endings, good or bad, are almost a miracle in this day & age. Ford County is am amazing book & John Grisham has done what most writers don't do. His short stories are as good or better than his long stories & that is saying a lot! The stories in this book are all good, some exceptionally good.

This is a book I couldn't put down. An excellent read and I highly recommend it. This would be a great book to read on a plane. Not too heavy and exactly the light reading I enjoy when I travel.

This book contains seven new short stories by the legendary John Grisham. All are built around Ford County Mississippi where the novel that launched his career "TIME TO KILL" was set. While Grisham's recent novels have been met with mixed emotions... I found these seven stories interestingly mesmerizing. As a reviewer it's a little tougher to give potential readers an overview of short stories as compared to a full Grisham novel because the reviewer has to be more careful not to give away key spoilers... which in a short story is very easy to do. What I found compelling was the ability of the author... even with the limited pages for each of the stories... to create quick... detailed... enthralling character studies... seemingly with the "flick" of his wrist... despite not having his normal availability of a full book's canvas in which to paint his characters nuances. It's within these character depictions that the author deftly... and almost intrinsically... is able to tug at the reader's heart and have tears begin to form one minute... then lightly chuckle as he quickly carves out ludicrous delineations that frame the lesser hanger-ons that dot society. Within all these stories there seems at first to be numerous good versus evil scenario's... but at times... the evil and good can't be separated in such a black and white lens. A sampling (in random order) of some of Grisham's plots include rumors growing and changing... trips to a blood bank that starts off with the best of intentions and yet winds up in a bloody strip club brawl... a kidnapping of a lawyer who is forced to see the result of his defense work from the wretched side of the victim... a family trip to an execution... a marriage gone bad and the bending of the legal system in an attempt to turn a nightmare into a dream... a character in a nursing home that allows larceny and empathy to exist in the same soul... a husband scorned who starts playing his "cards" right which leads to a serendipitous turn of events... and a look back at a dying 1980's AIDS patient and his effect on a Mississippi town. The titles and page lengths of the seven stories are: 1. Blood Drive (44 pages) 2. Fetching Raymond (50 pages) 3. Fish Files (46 pages) 4. Casino (36 pages) 5. Michael's Room (34 pages) 6. Quiet Haven (54 pages) 7. Funny Boy (43 pages) The communicational power of Grisham's words that target and hit the bull's-eye of life's characters quickly and adroitly... lead me to believe that despite the short nature of these stories... a number of them can easily be made into full length motion pictures.

John Grisham is a storyteller. For all the flack he takes for being a "pop" author, this man knows how to tell a tale. The only thing this book was missing was a rocking chair and a porch. These are stories that might have been told on a lazy Sunday evening while sitting on grandpa's lap listening to the cicadas playing a tune composed by Mother Nature. These stories run the gambit from touching, to sinister, to the unthinkable, to heart-wrenching to, "yep that's what you get", to my favorite... the "illegal yes, but I'll bet it felt so good"! Until Grisham's `Playing for Pizza', I avoided his non-lawyer novels. Well, I ended up enjoying that one and I really enjoyed this one. Like I said earlier, John is a mesmerizing storyteller and, although these stories are not related in any way, they flow like they are. My favorite story, by FAR, was `Fish Files'. (Think of the movie `Falling Down' without the violence and caffeine). Maybe it's because I wish for this sort of thing to happen to me or maybe because I love living vicariously through a story. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed reading about Mack because he didn't hesitate when opportunity kicked down his door. Be a good man... bah! Sticking with good southern values... whatever! Doing what your Sunday school teacher said... yeah ummm... I think I'll pass. I simply loved this story!! `Casino' came a very, very close second. Each one of these seven stories creates a different feeling, gives birth to a unique memory, speaks to hidden emotions, and, in a small way, enriches the human spirit. His pop success made him famous, but it's his ability to grab and never let go that makes his books unforgettable. As a book lover/fanatic, I really enjoy authors' who have that ZING it takes to grab my attention and that indescribable POW that keeps me reading. This is a wonderful, classic, short story collection.

America's greatest contribution to literary forms is the short story. Just refer to a strange looking gentleman named Poe. So why is it that so many prominent American writers today seem to have forgotten the short story? John Grisham to the rescue! His recently published collection of short stories, "FORD COUNTY", is one of the best books of 2009. The book is composed of seven beautifully written tales from Grisham's roots in Mississippi. Each story is a gem! The mostly contemporary plots range from hilarity ("Blood Drive") to heartache ("Michael's Room"). By the end of the last selection ("Funny Boy"), the reader wishes there were seven more. This is a great writer at his best, and one hopes that in the future Mr. Grisham will bring us more tales from Ford County. Get the book and enjoy every word. "Ford County" is superb! BRUCE SPERBER