Ford County

Stories

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: John Grisham

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

In his first collection of short stories John Grisham takes us back to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his first novel, A Time to Kill.

Wheelchair-bound Inez Graney and her two older sons, Leon and Butch, take a bizarre road trip through the Mississippi Delta to visit the youngest Graney brother, Raymond, who's been locked away on death row for eleven years. It could well be their last visit.

Mack Stafford, a hard-drinking and low-grossing run-of-the-mill divorce lawyer gets a miracle phone call with a completely unexpected offer to settle some old, forgotten cases for more money than he has ever seen. Mack is suddenly bored with the law, fed up with his wife and his life, and makes drastic plans to finally escape.

Quiet, dull Sidney, a data collector for an insurance company, perfects his blackjack skills in hopes of bringing down the casino empire of Clanton's most ambitious hustler, Bobby Carl Leach, who, among other crimes, has stolen Sidney's wife.

Three good ol' boys from rural Ford County begin a journey to the big city of Memphis to give blood to a grievously injured friend. However, they are unable to drive past a beer store as the trip takes longer and longer.

The Quiet Haven Retirement Home is the final stop for the elderly of Clanton. It's a sad, languid place with little controversy, until Gilbert arrives. Posing as a lowly paid bedpan boy, he is in reality a brilliant stalker with an uncanny ability to sniff out the assets of those "seniors" he professes to love.

Clanton is rocked with the rumor that the gay son of a prominent family has finally come home, to die. Of AIDS. Fear permeates the town as gossip runs unabated.

Featuring a cast of characters you'll never forget, these stories bring Ford County to vivid and colorful life. Often hilarious, frequently moving, this collection makes it abundantly clear why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.

©2009 Belfry Holdings, Inc (P)2009 Random House

Written when he could write

Such a shame all his books lately have been garbage. Even though I usually don’t like short stories this book was great.

OK but plain boring

struggled to finish it not his best book lacks to stories I have read before

Good stories, meh endings

The stories were all good, but most of them had abrupt or dull endings. Grisham speaks as if he is attempting to do an Obama impersonation, but in general it kept my attention throughout.

Good book

I wish the story was longer. I really enjoyed a look into the people. Wow if you think you have troubles just go to Ford County.

Wonderful

Some people have complained about the narration. But I loved it, and I hope Grisham decides to narrate more of his books. Thank you!!

Solid Grisham

As a consumer of all Grisham legal thrillers, I thought these might be some duds. However, almost all of these are solid Grisham, and I could see a couple of these getting the full novel treatment. I wasn't a fan of Grisham reading these stories. A little clunky. It's better left to professional narrators.

Narrated by the author

Mr Grisham is a wonderful writer but a poor actor and poor narrator of his own work

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

Despite contrary belief of John's poor narration skills. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. He continues to be a great storyteller in my opinion.

Ford County: An enjoyable journey!

Loved it. Grisham did well narrating his stories. Left me wanting. More, please! Soon.

Collection of well-written short stories

The stories are absolutely fascinating.… slices of life presented so vividly and colorful. Stories are varied… intriguing, somewhat mysterious, and funny! Loved them all.