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The Appeal | 
 enlarge | Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Dell
Category: Book
Buy New: $7.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  422 reviews
Sales Rank: 597407
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 496
ISBN: 0440243815
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780440243816
ASIN: 0440243815
Publication Date: November 18, 2008 (In 89 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Amazon.com
As the author of twenty bestselling books, John Grisham has set the standard for legal thrillers since the debut of The Firm in 1991. Enjoy this Q&A--as well as a personal note to Amazon readers--from John Grisham. 1. Your new novel starts off where most courtroom dramas end--with the verdict. Where did you get the idea to reverse the usual order of events this time around?
The actual trial is not a terribly significant part of the story. Most all of the action and intrigue begins after the trial is over, with the verdict and the subsequent appeal.
2. The Appeal overtly suggests that elected judges can be bought. If the novel is meant as a cautionary tale, what's next--the Presidential primaries?
Why not? Over one billion dollars will be spent next year in the Presidential primaries and general election. With that kind of money floating around, anything can be bought.
3. Speaking of electoral politics, you've been more vocal recently about your political views ... first supporting Jim Webb for Senate and now endorsing Hillary Clinton for the White House. Have you given any thought to running for office yourself?
No. I made that mistake 25 years ago, and promised myself I would never do it again. I enjoy watching and participating in politics from the sidelines, but it's best to keep some distance.
4. This is your first legal thriller in three years. How did it feel to get back to the genre that started it all, and can fans expect another thriller from you next year?
I still enjoy writing the legal thrillers, and don't plan to get too far away from them. Obviously, they have been very good to me, and they remain popular. I plan to write one a year for the next several years.
5. Your nonfiction book The Innocent Man continues to be a bestseller in paperback. In your ongoing work with The Innocence Project, have you come across another story of the wrongfully convicted that begs to be written as nonfiction?
There are literally hundreds of great stories out there about wrongfully convicted defendants. I am continually astounded by these stories, and I resist the temptation to take the plunge again into non-fiction.
6. What's on your bedside reading list at the moment?
1. The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
2. Eric Clapton's autobiography
3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 417 more reviews...
Fragmented Storry and Simplistic Characters August 19, 2008
The premise of this book sounded great and it certinaly lured me to buy it. I've read other Grisham books in the past, The Last Juror, being my favourite.
I have a few problems with what could have been an excellent book:
1) Too Short
Why do Grisham's ending always end way too quickly? He has a problem with this, and while he stalls the book right before the climax the eventual resolution is so short it really left me in shock. Probably one of the worst endings ever in a book for so many reasons.
2) Too Fragmented
Grisham was trying to cover a lot of territory in this book over a 2 year period. There are about 10 characters that interplay with different intertwining plots. For me it made a very unenjoyable reading experience. I got bored with a lot of characters quickly.
3) Really Poor Character Development
As other reviewers have said, the protagonists in the book are simplistic and only serve the superficial purpose of advancing the story. They were boring as a result.
Overal the original idea was interesting, but it was just so poorly done, and the ending is what really was disappointing that it left me in disgust.
 Goodbye Grisham August 17, 2008
I have just wasted a portion of my life reading this book with an ending we readers do not deserve. I tried to rate it 0 but can't go less than 1.
Waste of Precious Time August 17, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Who's the protagonist? Who carries the story? I never could really grasp on to any single character as someone I cared about in this book. The characters are predicatble, stereotypical and uninteresting. They are underdeveloped, and overly-wordy. Grisham goes off on tangents that don't support the through line, throws in a zillion characters that are thinly developed and leaves us so unsatisfied at the end. The good guy doesn't win in this story, and in such a predictable book, he/she should, albeit done with craft and with an interesting twist. Grisham fails to deliver.
Money and Politics: The Ultimate Leverage August 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When a massive chemicals corporation loses a $41 million lawsuit in rural Mississippi, its top leadership vows to appeal to the state's supreme court. The nine-member court is notorious for upholding plaintiff's lawsuits, punitive damages and all, by a 5-4 split. However, these justices are elected officials--and elections are just around the corner. With deep pockets pitted against near bankruptcy, the race is on to either preserve or restructure the Supreme Court of Mississippi before the appeal can reach the bar.
Grisham has always been a social commentator and critic, but this side of him seems to be asserting itself more aggressively over the past several years. Two books prior to this one, Grisham published his first non-fiction work, a searing indictment of a legal system that too often entombs the innocent on death row. He has also become a high-profile crusader for the Democratic party and its candidates. In "The Appeal," his latest morality play, Grisham's agitation for social and political justice overwhelms the plot at every turn. The characters aren't quite cardboard props, but they're also no more than extras on a stage dominated by Grisham's boisterous diva--his displeasure with the concept of elective supreme courts. Though fascinating as a dramatized lecture on political theory, it winds up being more morality than play.
Very Disappointed August 13, 2008
I have read several Grisham books and have thoroughly enjoyed the story lines and his particular style of writing. I was excited about the story and was looking forward to the ending. To my dismay, the ending was terrible, the entire story just went "flat" at the end. I am very disappointed, we "all" know that corruption and big money deals are alive and well in our world, I certainly don't want to be reminded of that while trying to enjoy a good novel. I probably won't purchase another Grisham book!
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