How I met John Grisham

My fascination for John Grisham's work started when I first read 'The Partner'. This was way back in 1998.

Books were an unchartered territory for me then. All I'd ever read was Archie comics, Enid Blyton short stories, Hardy Boys, Secret Seven, you know what I mean. Real mainstream fiction did not exist in my world. My world did not have place for anything else. Then I stumbled upon a copy of 'The Partner'. My brother had just finished reading it and couldn't stop raving about it. First reaction on seeing a 416 page novel - like hell I'm gonna read this! It was lying around for a week. I always heard him say that a book is a whole new world. Always got me thinking: What world is he talking about?

"They found him in Ponta Porp, a pleasant little town in Brazil, on the border of Paraguay, in a land still known as the Frontier. They found him alone, as best they could tell, though a maid came and went at odd hours during the eight days they hid and watched."

Woah! That opening hit me like a thunderbolt. Who found who? Why were they searching for him? Why was he hiding? Or was he hiding? Did he know they were there? What did they want?

And thus began my amazing journey living the lives of fictional characters created by Grisham. All characters are etched in my memory as if they are a part of me now. Or maybe I am a part of them. I was lost in Grisham's world. Nothing else mattered. He could take you to places you will never go to, meet people you will never meet, do things you will never do and live the life you may never live! How about being a gay American senator lined up for the top job at the white house and have 3 former supreme court judges know your secret? Or how about being that rookie lawyer who fights and wins the lawsuit of a lifetime? Or how about being that jury member who can manipulate an entire jury and deliver whatever verdict you want but only at a price? Or how about trying to save a man on an electric chair? Or how about defending a black client who is on trial for the murder of 2 rednecks who had raped his 7 yr old daughter? Or how about having someone buy you a judge seat in the supreme court? Or how about writing a report that could implicate the whose who of American legislature and then run for your life?

There is more. But I cannot finish. I can only get started. And then the mind takes over.