John Grisham Breaks Free of the Southern Writer Syndrome

OXFORD, Miss. - When a young Mississippi writer's first bookwasn't selling, friends peddled copies out of their cars across ruralMississippi.

John Grisham fit the image of many aspiring Southern writers -talented but unappreciated.

The year was 1989, but it was like a flashback to 1929, whenWilliam Faulkner, also of Oxford, released The Sound and the Fury,which sold just 1,500 copies over the next decade.

But after A Time to Kill failed to capture attention, Grishamset out to be a commercial success. In the process, he has brokenthe mold of the traditional Southern author.

Young writers at the University of Mississippi, where Grishamattended law …