28 Grisham books in a row have been New York Times bestsellers
Grisham movies have made over $645 million at the box office
John Grisham’s books have been translated into 42 languages
Grisham’s works in total have generated over $1 billion
Grisham initially resisted ebooks fearing they would make it more for aspiring authors to get published but came to an agreement with his publisher in 2010
Only 3 authors have ever sold two million copies of a book on first print – Grisham, JK Rowling and Tom Clancy
How many books has John Grisham written?
John Grisham has written 51 books
His first book – A Time to Kill – was published in 1989
Since 1991, Grisham has published at least 1 book each year
His most prolific year was 2016 when he published 4 books
The average Grisham book is 386 pages long
The Chamber is his longest published book at 688 pages
Book Title
Published
Page Count
Audiobook Length
A Time to Kill
1989
672
16 hrs and 47 mins
The Firm
1991
432
17 hrs and 10 mins
The Pelican Brief
1992
384
10 hrs and 38 mins
The Client
1993
422
5 hrs and 51 mins
The Chamber
1994
688
16 hrs and 59 mins
The Rainmaker
1995
434
16 hrs and 59 mins
The Runaway Jury
1996
560
14 hrs and 4 mins
The Partner
1997
528
11 hrs and 27 mins
The Street Lawyer
1998
448
10 hrs and 19 mins
The Testament
1999
482
14 hrs and 33 mins
The Brethren
2000
416
11 hrs and 34 mins
A Painted House
2001
388
12 hrs and 4 mins
Skipping Christmas
2001
198
3 hrs and 42 mins
The Summons
2002
245
8 hrs and 47 mins
The Wavedancer Benefit: A Tribute to Frank Muller
2002
–
–
Bleachers
2003
240
4 hrs and 19 mins
The King of Torts
2003
480
11 hrs and 48 mins
The Last Juror
2004
496
11 hrs and 48 mins
The Broker
2005
482
11 hrs and 9 mins
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
2006
448
12 hrs and 28 mins
Playing for Pizza
2007
320
6 hrs and 52 mins
The Appeal
2008
431
12 hrs and 26 mins
The Associate
2009
498
10 hrs and 49 mins
Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Acclaimed Authors and the Day Jobs they Quit
2010
432
–
The Confession
2010
418
14 hrs and 32 mins
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer
2010
288
5 hrs and 3 mins
The Litigators
2011
385
11 hrs and 33 mins
Theodore Boone: The Abduction
2011
256
4 hrs and 1 min
Calico Joe
2012
272
4 hrs and 35 mins
The Racketeer
2012
352
12 hrs and 46 mins
Theodore Boone: The Accused
2012
271
5 hrs and 16 mins
Sycamore Row
2013
464
20 hrs and 46 mins
Theodore Boone: The Activist
2013
289
5 hrs and 55 mins
Gray Mountain
2014
386
14 hrs and 46 mins
Rogue Lawyer
2015
368
11 hrs and 18 mins
Theodore Boone: The Fugitive
2015
288
5 hrs and 2 mins
Partners
2016
320
1 hr and 36 mins
The Whistler
2016
432
13 hrs and 10 mins
Theodore Boone: The Scandal
2016
240
3 hrs and 59 mins
Witness to a Trial
2016
37
54 mins
Camino Island
2017
336
8 hrs and 45 mins
The Rooster Bar
2017
384
10 hrs and 17 mins
The Reckoning
2018
432
17 hrs and 36 mins
The Guardians
2019
384
11 hrs and 50 mins
Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
2019
240
4 hrs and 38 mins
A Time for Mercy
2020
480
19 hrs and 59 mins
Camino Winds
2020
336
8 hrs and 42 mins
Sooley
2021
354
10 hrs and 27 mins
The Judge’s List
2021
368
11 hrs and 36 mins
Sparring Partners
2022
320
9 hrs and 57 mins
The Boys from Biloxi
2022
464
17 hrs and 22 mins
John Grisham film and TV adaptations
15 movies and TV series have been based upon John Grisham books
11 feature length movies
4 TV series
Grisham movies have made over $645 million at the box office
Grisham was paid $600,000 and $1.75 million for the rights to The Firm and The Pelican Brief respectively
John Grisham movies
Rank
Release
Box office
Release Date
1
The Firm
$158.3 million
Jul 2, 1993
2
The Pelican Brief
$100.1 million
Dec 17, 1993
3
The Client
$92.1 million
Jul 22, 1994
4
A Time to Kill
$108.7 million
Jul 24, 1996
5
The Chamber
$14.5 million
Oct 11, 1996
6
The Rainmaker
$45.9 million
Nov 21, 1997
7
The Gingerbread Man
$1.7 million
Jan 23, 1998
8
Runaway Jury
$49.4 million
Oct 17, 2003
9
Mickey
$300 thousand
Apr 30, 2004
10
Christmas with the Kranks (based on Skipping Christmas)
$73.8 million
Nov 24, 2004
John Grisham TV adaptations
Title
Years on air
Seasons
No. of episodes
Network
The Client
1995-96
1
20
CBS
The Street Lawyer
2003
None
1
Pilot only
The Firm
2011-12
1
22
NBC
The Innocent Man
2018
1 (Miniseries)
6
Netflix
How did John Grisham become a writer?
Grisham was born in Arkansas in 1955
When he was 4, the family moved to Southaven, Mississippi which was actually a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee but just over the state border
Grisham graduated Mississippi State University with a degree in Accounting
He later graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law
Grisham was a lawyer and was then elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives
Grisham claims it was a case he saw in a Mississippi courthouse that inspired him to write his first book – A Time To Kill
He wrote in the mornings and in his spare time – an hour here and an hour there when he could
He was rejected by 28 different publishers before a small publishing house agreed to print a small run
Grisham started his 2nd novel, The Firm, the day after he finished his first
He published The Firm in 1991 and has published at least one book every year since
The Firm spent 47 weeks on the NY Times Bestseller list
John Grisham writes with the kind of clarity that makes complex ideas feel simple, a skill that serves word game players just as well. WordsRated publishes daily hints for today’s Connections and today’s Wordle, and our Word Finder is there whenever you need to find the best word from a set of letters. Check yesterday’s Wordle too if you missed it.
