It is yet unclear if she was a lesbian, but we can guess...

Title: The Litigators

Author: John Grisham

Progress: 10%

Platform: Kindle

Amazon Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

NYT BS Hardcover List: #1 (debuted at number 1)

Book 4 out of 107

Have you ever read The Firm? Did you read it when it first came out in 1991?

It was one of those books, the ones that people take delight in giving to other people, in saying, "You just have to read this."

I remember the moment quite well. I was in the Air Force and Master Sergeant Pat Samuelson, who was my boss at the time and was probably a lesbian (before the days of don't ask don't tell, these were the days of pretend you are straight or get court martialed), handed me a hardback book with a cover design of green marble and gold letters that said, "The Firm." 

"You just have to read this," she said. We traded books on occasion. She was partial to mysteries, bought them by the arm load at a musty old used bookstore when she wasn't camping in the woods with her best friend, a woman by the name of Marly who no one in the office had ever met. Some thought Marly might have been an imaginary friend even thought Marly knitted, made homemade granola and liked dogs more than cats. 

Anyway...

I read that book in a night, ripped right through it, and then started over again as soon as I was done, just to see how John Grisham had done it, how he made mesmerized me so and wrecked my sleep.

I've read it three or four times since then (1991 was 20 years ago? Wow. Time does fly), and it still strikes me as the perfect example of commercial fiction. The perfect hero, relatable, understandable, admirable in ways, makes a big mistake, then redeems himself. The perfect bad guy, law firm that satan-like makes what seems like a great deal with our hero, full of the promise of riches, and only later is his soul forfeit, after it's almost too late. Our hero, through bravery and smarts, defeats the firm of Satan and Satan in the most satisfying of ways.

Since then, Mr. Grishom has written 26 books,and I've read most of them. Some are great, some not so great. But you know what? None of them are bad. Not one.

Here we are, 20 years later (unbelievable!) and Mr. Grisham has given me yet another book. He's become hugely wealthy, world famous, and a generous giver to charities. I work for a big corporation and do all right, but am not yet world famous. We both look two decades older. I have a lot less hair. He has a little less hair.

Before I talk about his new book, The Litigators, in my little project, let me say this to anyone who reads this and wants to be a writer. Go read The Firm. Then thank me. And then thank Mr. Grisham. 

That book is a masterpiece. Book critics can have all the almost endless sentences and unlikeable characters and depressing themes and post-modern horseshit they want. Few tales are told better than the one in The Firm.

I'll talk about The Litigators tomorrow.