caption birth_place imagesize birth_date image article_title birth_name alma_mater
john grisham in 2009 jonesboro , arkansas , united states 220px 8 february 1955 john_grisham 2009.jpg john grisham
 john ray grisham , jr. mississippi state university ty grisham -lrb- born 1983 -rrb-
john grisham

john ray grisham , jr. -lrb- ; born february 8 , 1955 -rrb- is an american lawyer , politician , and author , best known for his popular legal thrillers .
his books have been translated into 42 languages .
john grisham graduated from mississippi state university before attending the university of mississippi school of law in 1981 .
he practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the house of representatives in mississippi from january 1984 to september 1990 .
he began writing his first novel , `` a time to kill , '' in 1984 ; it was published in june 1989 .
as of 2012 , his books had sold over 275 million copies worldwide .
a galaxy british book awards winner , grisham is one of only three authors to sell 2 million copies on a first printing ; the others are tom clancy and j.k. rowling .
grisham 's first bestseller was `` the firm '' -lrb- 1991 -rrb- ; it sold more than seven million copies .
the book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name , starring tom cruise , in a 2012 tv series which `` continues the story of attorney mitchell mcdeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel . ''
eight of his other novels have also been adapted into films : `` the chamber '' , `` the client '' , `` a painted house '' , `` the pelican brief '' , `` skipping christmas '' , `` the rainmaker '' , `` the runaway jury '' , and `` a time to kill '' .
his books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide .
