In retrospect, it's amazing to consider how hard it was for the young John Grisham to find a publisher for this, his inaugural work of fiction. I listened to the abridged audio version, which shortened it to a mere 3 hours. Nevertheless, that was enough to reveal this work as quite good, with an intriguing plot and interesting characters. In listening to it, it seemed to me at first that the racism was rather overdone for the time frame in which it was set; however, my reaction was soon dispelled by a host of real-world events taking place in the US (with white supremacy marches being held nationwide with the apparent approval of the nation's president).

Finding an inexpensive hardback copy of this book wasn't easy, but I located one and will read it eventually. Given its high ratings here and at Amazon, I anticipate a worthwhile experience. ( )

Not my typical cup of tea, but BF had it on during our weekend road trip and I got hooked on the story. Not for the sensitive as the N word was tossed around pretty freely, but as a period Southern piece it was done true to form of the piece. At 46 chapters, we didn't quite get through the whole book during the trip so I found myself sitting in the car over my lunch hours the first couple of days back just to wind it all up. ( )