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 enlarge | Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy Used: $0.86
You Save: $27.09 (97%)
New (119) Used (293) Collectible (22) from $0.86
Avg. Customer Rating:  454 reviews
Sales Rank: 1119
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0385515049
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385515047
ASIN: 0385515049
Publication Date: January 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Modern Day David and Goliath story September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jeannette Baker is a meek woman living in a small town Mississippi trailer park smack in the heart of a place called "Cancer County." Within eight months, she had watched her husband, and then her only child, die of cancer caused by drinking water contaminated by Krane Chemical's illegal dumping of toxins. Jeannette uses up all her remaining courage and strength to sue Krane Chemical, the prototypical multinational conglomeration run by a filthy-rich-yet-still-insatiable Carl Trudeau. And when an appeal is filed, the case goes all the way to the state Supreme Court. Like Krane Chemical itself, John Grisham uses Jeannette Baker as a mere pawn to tell the story of how absolutely anything, even a seat on the state Supreme Court, is for sale in America.
Grisham's twentieth novel presents yet another modern day David and Goliath story. The common person against the corporation. Poor vs. rich. Main Street vs. Wall Street. Good vs. greed. This moral tug-o-war is common territory for the author of The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Rainmaker, to name but a few of his fast-paced thrillers of this ilk. Certainly if you are among the many fans of Grisham's favored themes, you will get your fill with The Appeal. It's all there: juicy courtroom scenes, good-hearted small town lawyers, cold-blooded big city lawyers, bureaucratic corruption, Supreme Court justices, a rigged election. Although not nearly as fast-paced and gripping as some of his best work, The Appeal remains a satisfying read.
What saves this book from being just more of the same from Grisham is its timeliness. Within the context of today's age of hyper-bureaucracy, when the average shopper must make a real effort to buy something that isn't produced by a mega-corporation, The Appeal feels eerily perceptive. It asks (and answers) the question, "Can a major election be bought?" In this book, Grisham illustrates a campaign's effective use of "truthiness," a concept that means appealing to a voter's gut feeling as opposed to actual fact. In doing so Grisham comments on an American superficial inclination to elect the candidate they would rather have a beer with. Grisham utilizes common ploys in today's political playbooks in order to illustrate how easy it is to convince the majority of voters to support the less capable candidate. In doing so, the author prompts readers to wonder in fear if powerful people are as devious, callous and cunning as Krane Chemical's CEO Carl Trudeau.
What do you think? Can a major election be bought? You won't get John Grisham's answer until the very end of The Appeal.
Quill says: Read it before you vote!
 3/4 is trite filler - Wouldn't sell if it weren't Grisham September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What happened to Grisham? This seems like something churned out by a kid in a week. Nothing happens that's unexpected (except maybe the bad ending). After the start, at least 3/4 of the book could be summarized in a page and you would lose nothing.
You could dream up the plot line yourself in less than 10 minutes. Real life is more interesting than this. So my advice: don't read this book--you'll get more enjoyment out of just about any other activity.
 Very good plot and also relevant (warning I talk plot) September 25, 2008
This is one of Grisham's better works of the past few that he has put together. It comes down more for being relevant rather than offering a super plot twisting story so if you're looking for a shocking ending, you will not like this one. For one thing, the bad guys do seem to win in the end. This ranks as more of a political novel rather than a legal one and it is nice to see Grisham spreading his wings.
If you're a fan of Grisham and like his writing style and are comfortable with him spreading his wings you will like this work. If you think he's just good for cranking out legal books I am afraid this is not the one for you!
Very slow and predictable. September 21, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am a big John Grisham fan. This is his only novel I did not like at all. I have read all his books.
 predictable September 18, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found The Appeal to be a boring read. Overly simplistic, predictable and wooden with cookie-cutter characters and after 2/3 of the way through I just gave up. His earlier books were much better.
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