John Grisham - Ford County

What a joke sirjee

Wow a new Grisham….Should I buy it? What a stupid question right, for any self respecting book lover I am sure even the momentary pause before picking up the book from the stand and adding it to your trolley bag would be considered sacrilege. But I had other restrictions…a couple of books I had enthusiastically bought a few weeks back were still waiting for me, and I had resolved ( ya ya in true new year spirit) that I wouldn’t buy any more books till I finished them. “That resolution is only for nonfiction books (which the two were) so I can buy a fiction one and that too a Grisham….” My internal dialogue continued and soon I was trudging back to my room with more than a couple of books…obviously buying only one book is a sin.

My girlfriend went boom “What!!!! You bought four books?? I thought you said you wanted to cut down on your expenses…that’s what you meant when you said No more Mainland China and Little Italy right?” (Well actually being a couple of years into a relationship I thought I could get away with such a statement)

So after much more such road humps I got to read the book (sometimes this makes me wonder whether the universe conspiring to direct one towards a course of action thingie from alchemist was at work here) Now the book is a compilation of short stories set in Ford County, I was salivating in the expectation that Grisham would live up to his reputation as a thriller something like Archer and Forsythe short stories. Much to my disappointment, the stories were extremely bland and frustrating. The twist in each tale was that there was no twist in the tale, Grisham will be going “HA! Gotcha there you suckers” I read through the entire book looking for some salvation but that wasn’t to happen. The story goes like a narrative, each with a thriller potential but be disappointed my friends be very disappointed. The stories go something like ‘he went to the market, bought vegetables and came back’ straightforward and bland. The book has absolutely nothing in it and personally it wouldn’t merit even the fifty bucks for a pirated copy (and I got mine from Crossword…that means 300 bucks down the drain….ah the price for being a book lover).

Now some might argue “Hey try to appreciate the flavor, he is trying to portray the life of common people, event which never come to light” but puhleeeaze…… does anyone read a Grisham for such stuff? The Grisham website says “Featuring a cast of characters you’ll never forget, these stories bring Ford County to vivid and colorful life. Often hilarious, frequently moving, and always entertaining, this collection makes it abundantly clear why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.” My take on this is “ hey Grisham…we like you best in the courtroom dude, please don’t try any other shit and take us loyal readers for granted”

I give this book half a star out of five (the half star for the name John Grisham on the cover only)