Grisham had a book signing in Tupelo
A self-confessed “loafer,” author John Grisham did anything but take it easy Tuesday.
Instead, he sat at a desk off the children’s section on the second floor of Reed’s and autographed books.
Hundreds of books.
Grisham hits about five bookstores every year, he said, and Tupelo’s Reed’s is one of them. “They’re old friends,” he said. “I’ve known them for a long time, and they helped me early on with A Time to Kill.’” It was his first published novel.
This year’s book is “Playing for Pizza,” which departs from his regular genre of legal thriller. “Playing for Pizza” is about a former NFL quarterback who leaves the league in disgrace and goes to Italy to play for the Parma Panthers.
It’s the second year in a row Grisham has published something other than his standard form of attorneys and courtrooms or bad judges. But he’s returning to the style that rocketed him to the tops of best-seller lists. It’s called “The Appeal” and is at the printers.
“It’s a legal/political thriller,” the author said. “It’s set in Mississippi in modern times.”
The book will be released Jan. 29 by Doubleday.
As “The Appeal” hits the shelves and readers give “Playing for Pizza” as holiday presents, the former Oxford resident said he will enjoy some knock-off time at his farm in Charlottesville, Va.
“There will be no writing,” he insisted.
After completing a 500-page manuscript, the author needs time to rejuvenate with a stogie and long walks across the farm. He’ll loaf, as he calls it. Then, about mid-January as the snow falls in Charlotte, Grisham will begin toying with ideas for the next book. He’ll take some notes, perhaps begin developing the story line.
By February, Grisham will make the rounds of a few book stores – the friends, as he calls them – Reed’s, Square Books in Oxford, Lemuria in Jackson and a store each in Memphis and Blytheville, Ark., his native state, and some others to promote “The Appeal.”
Then it’ll be time to closet himself and pound out another manuscript.
“It’s a wonderful life,” Grisham said.
Source: Daily Journal
