Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993                   TAG: 9312230300
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GINA HOLLAND ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: OXFORD, MISS.                                 LENGTH: Medium

EARLY IN HIS CAREER, GRISHAM HAD LOTS OF TIME TO KILL

John Grisham fit the image of many aspiring Southern writers - talented but unappreciated.

The year was 1989, but it was like a flashback to 1929, when William Faulkner, also of Oxford, released ``The Sound and the Fury,'' which sold just 1,500 copies over the next decade.

But after ``A Time to Kill'' failed to capture attention, Grisham set out to be a commercial success. In the process, he's broken the mold of the traditional Southern author.

Young writers at the University of Mississippi, where Grisham attended law school, used to respectfully debate the prose of Faulkner, Shelby Foote, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams.

While that continues in some circles, many instead discuss Grisham's latest multimillion dollar book and movie deals.

The film of his second book, ``The Firm,'' starred Tom Cruise and is expected to make as much as $400 million in United States and foreign markets. Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington star in ``The Pelican Brief,'' which opened last week.

Grisham's fourth book, ``The Client'' remains on The New York Times best-sellers list.

And ``A Time to Kill,'' which sold less than 5,000 copies in 1989, was re-released in hardcover last month.

It's a far cry from the days when Grisham, a Democrat in the state Legislature and lawyer, spent three years on a book that few people wanted.

``A good day would be to unload 20 or 30 of those books,'' said Rep. Bobby Moak, Grisham's former roommate who sold books out of his Mercury and his office.

``I had those things stacked up. My niece would make a fort out of them. They were just sort of a drain, aggravating as hell,'' Moak said. ``We were trying to sell them to lobbyists and anyone who would buy the doggone things.

``I know a bunch of those stayed in the back of the car. They got wet and moldy. John just took them to the dump. I know they're worth a lot more than $14 now.''

Signed copies of the first edition sell for up to $1,000.

Moak said Grisham refused to get discouraged, reading dozens of best-selling novels and perfecting his work.

The success hit home to Grisham this summer. He said he cried while watching the premiere of ``The Firm'' in a New York theater with his wife, Renee, who helps with his books.

``It was heavily emotional, terribly gut-wrenching,'' Grisham said.

The 38-year-old Grisham, who crafts his legal thrillers in a picturesque farmhouse on the outskirts of Oxford and takes time to coach Little League baseball, has put a new twist to novel writing.

``Some young people are thinking it over in their minds that writing is something they can do not for their own satisfaction, not for art, not for growing - for money,'' said Richard Howorth, owner of a Oxford bookstore.

``Other writers might want to outdo Raymond Carver, be recognized by modern critical theorists,'' he said.

But not Grisham, who describes other Mississippi writers as ``a lot more serious about their work.''

However, Grisham, whose wife is an English major at Ole Miss, is spending some of the profits from his commercialized writing for literary efforts at the university. He and his wife recently set up two programs to bring more writers to the campus, including a Southern writer-in-residence program.

Barry Hannah, a writer-in-residence at the school, said Grisham is a role model to his students, but of a different type.

``John is a literary man but he makes no bones about what he's been up to - writing commercial thrillers,'' Hannah said. ``John is a good image for a successful writer. He shows people that it can be done.''

``He's got a good product,'' said Moak. ``Some people may say his stuff is commercial. The paycheck proves that he's a literary talent.''

Grisham said recently that although he has made money off Hollywood, he still doesn't like it. ``Confidentiality in Hollywood is a joke,'' he said.

These days, he gives few interviews as he works on his latest Doubleday book, scheduled to be in bookstores next summer.

Grisham already has sold the film rights to his fifth, unfinished book.

But he is holding on to the rights to his first and his favorite book - and the one he could get few people to buy in 1989.