John Grisham photographed by Kevin Bain/UM Communications
“Twenty-five years after The Firm hit bookstores, John Grisham (JD ’81) reflects on his unusual path to best-seller-list titan” in the Garden & Gun October/November 2016 issue:
Speaking of Oxford, what is it about that town that has made it such a literary haven?
Well, Faulkner put it on the map, but you know, Faulkner was never accepted by the local people. He was impossible to read, he was kind of a misfit, he drank too much, and he had a bad rep. I think it changed thirty-some years ago when the Howorths opened [Square Books]. It’s such a magnet for writers, and there is a really strong base of people who come to the signings, who support it. The university has a great MFA program. It just has an atmosphere that’s unique. When I moved there in 1990, I would hang out with Barry Hannah, Willie Morris, Larry Brown. I was the rookie. Those were some great times.