Latest John Grisham Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• There are few writers who, if they publish anything, I am going to buy it: Ian McEwan, Scott Turow, Pat Conroy - he was a buddy of mine and I always read his stuff. Also: Harlan Coben, Elmore Leonard, John Le Carre, but he's pushing ninety.

  John Grisham

  Publish, Buddy

  Source: therumpus.net

• One thing that drives me nuts... well, let me ask you, when writers write do they not use quotation marks anymore?

  John Grisham

  Writing, Let Me, Quotations

  Source: therumpus.net

• I stopped reading William Faulkner because it's hard work. I want to read a good writer, but I also want to read something where the pages are going to move along. That's what I want. It doesn't have to be a thriller or a mystery. Just something where I get caught up in the story.

  John Grisham

  Moving, Reading, Hard Work

  Source: therumpus.net

• Stephen King reached out to me twenty-five years ago and taught me some valuable lessons. In return, I've tried to be generous with my time over the years with young writers. I've given them my email and said if you need someone to talk to, I've been through it.

  John Grisham

  Valuable, Generous

  Source: therumpus.net

• The two mistakes that come to mind are people who introduce a flood of characters in the first few pages. Where the reader has to stop and get out a flow chart and has to figure out who is who. And you just can't do that - introduce the first four generations of a character's family in the first chapter. You can introduce four or five characters at the most in the first chapter. Another mistake is to use big words that are not normally used in conversation to try to impress folks with your vocabulary.

  John Grisham

  Mistake, Character, People

  Source: therumpus.net

• I remember Stephen King did a fundraiser one time with J.K. Rowling and he was very impressed with her. But we talk a lot about publishing, bookselling, and book writing. He's been around for ten years longer than me and was a bestseller right off the bat. And he's seen and done everything. It's rare to be with somebody who has been through all of that.

  John Grisham

  Book, Writing, Done

  Source: therumpus.net

• Stephen King told me a long time ago, when he gave me some advice about the movies. He said to take the money up front and expect it to be something different than the book and if you don't like that don't deal with Hollywood. But if you take the money, shut up and don't criticize the film because you sold it. The movie doesn't change a word of the book.

  John Grisham

  Book, Long, Advice

  Source: therumpus.net

• So many book sections in newspapers and magazines used to be lively and vibrant places. Now they are gone. You just don't see many reviews anymore. I can't control that, so I don't worry about it. I just try to do what I do and write books that people find every entertaining. I don't worry about the critics.

  John Grisham

  Book, Writing, Worry

  Source: therumpus.net

• In my case, once you sell a lot of books and you are labeled a bestselling author, the serious critics are never gonna say anything nice about you.

  John Grisham

  Nice, Book, Say Anything

  Source: therumpus.net

• I don't even know what a serious literary critic is.

  John Grisham

  Serious, Critics

  Source: therumpus.net

• I still enjoy the process of writing. If I ever feel like I am going through the motions because I can sell anything at this level, I hope that somebody, somewhere who I trust will tell me to take a break and stop because it's sounding old. But so far, I don't feel like I'm boring anyone.

  John Grisham

  Writing, Boring, Break

  Source: therumpus.net

• I did get tired of hearing that criticism years ago. That is not a compliment. Being labeled a "beach read" is a put-down. So, I did deliberately set out to write a book, Camino Island, that would be very entertaining and compulsively readable and we published it on June 6 in time for summer vacation, hoping that people would buy it and take it to the beach.

  John Grisham

  Summer, Beach, Book

  Source: therumpus.net

• There is no devious and dangerous life. I've lived a charmed life, especially in the last thirty years since I've started publishing. I've won the lottery. And I keep winning it every year and I am so fortunate to do something I thoroughly enjoy and still enjoy after a bunch of books.

  John Grisham

  Book, Winning, Enjoy

  Source: therumpus.net