John Grisham talks about writing, A Time to Kill play

July 13th, 2011 Tayla Smalley Leave a comment Go to comments

The same novel that John Grisham once sold out of the back of his car is Broadway bound.

Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes has adapted A Time to Kill for what is being called a pre-Broadway run in Washington, D.C., and so far it has been getting good reviews. Tuesday is being dubbed Mississippi Night, expected to be attended by Grisham, Gov. Haley Barbour, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and other Mississippi officials.

The novel, which explores the meaning of justice, was inspired by a real life case Grisham witnessed as a lawyer in north Mississippi.

Heres what the Arena Stage says about the play: After an unspeakable crime is committed against his daughter, Carl Lee Hailey takes the law into his own hands. Now on trial for murder, Carl Lee’s only hope lies with one young, idealistic lawyer who is outmatched by a formidable district attorney and under attack from both sides of a racially divided city.

In an interview Monday, Grisham said he read the script of the play eight months ago and really liked it.

With each rewrite, its just gotten better and better, he said.

He and his family saw the play recently. It brought back so many memories, he said. Its very well done. The dream is to get it to Broadway. So far, so good.

The original publisher printed 5,000 copies of A Time to Kill. I bought a 1,000 and took them to libraries all over the state, he said. The book didnt sell, but it taught me a lot about the book-selling business.

In 1989, Grisham tagged along with fellow state lawmaker Bobby Moak all over south Mississippi for a book that wouldnt sell.

Grisham hit the big time with his next book, The Firm — the first of many of his books to be made into movies, including A Time to Kill. (Grisham served as producer on the 1996 film based on the novel, starring Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson.)

He is currently wrapping up a new legal thriller, The Litigators, due out Oct. 25.

Asked how he manages in a year to write both a novel and the latest installment of the childrens series, Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, Grisham replied, I have nothing else to do. You cant play golf every day.

A legal thriller takes about six months to write, he said. He can usually finish the childrens book in about three months, he said.

Each morning, he goes into his office at 7, shuts the door and stays for three hours, he said. Its such a routine for me. I write about four or five pages a day, and the pages start stacking up.

A Time to Kill has since made up for being initially overlooked.

For a book that wouldnt sell, its sold 16 million copies, Grisham said. Weve had a good run with A Time to Kill.

Wiki Law School