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A Painted House

By John Grisham

(90)

| Hardcover | 9780385501200

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Book Description

The hill people and the Mexicans arrived on the same day. It was a Wednesday, early in September 1952. The Cardinals were five games behind the Dodgers with three weeks to go, and the season looked hopeless. The cotton, however, was waist-high to my father, over my head, and he and my grandfatContinue

Critics

Gone to the country

A Painted House John Grisham Century £16.99, pp388 Buy it at a discount at BOL A Darkness More Than Night Michael Connelly Orion £16.99, pp418 Buy it at a discount at BOL Big Sky Gareth Creer Doubleday £9.99, pp316 Buy it at a discount at BOL Doctor ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Trouble comes to the cotton fields

A writer who can go on about the logistics and economics of cotton-picking at some length without alienating the reader must have something going for him - in fact probably has considerable talent. It was one of the things Hemingway was good at, dwel ... (read full critics)

spectator published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

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8 Reviews

1 person find this helpful

A Painted House

This book is one of a handful where Grisham has departed from his usual courtroom drama genre. I was really impressed with his writing here. This is a richly detailed and enthralling character-driven period tale told from the point of view of a 7 year-old boy during his last cotton harvest on his ... (continue)

This book is one of a handful where Grisham has departed from his usual courtroom drama genre. I was really impressed with his writing here. This is a richly detailed and enthralling character-driven period tale told from the point of view of a 7 year-old boy during his last cotton harvest on his grandparents' Arkansas farm.

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Readingrat said on Jan 3, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

A very boring book. I'm very disappointed with Grisham. The whole book was based on a 6 yo kid's perspective and it did inspired me for my book. But the storyline is just dull. Well, maybe it's the fact that I don't understand baseball. 10% of the story was about baseball. It was about farmers.... S ... (continue)

A very boring book. I'm very disappointed with Grisham. The whole book was based on a 6 yo kid's perspective and it did inspired me for my book. But the storyline is just dull. Well, maybe it's the fact that I don't understand baseball. 10% of the story was about baseball. It was about farmers.... So you get how boring it can be?

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Running Jan said on Jun 26, 2008 about the Others edition | 1 feedback

First came Mark Twain with his Huck Finn, then follwed Harper Lee's Scout, finally John Grisham with Luke Chandler.
Growing up in the Deep South is a great advenure, even if one just witnesses things happen in other people's life. Luke is an hero in the way he can keep secrets (and he is burdened wi ... (continue)

First came Mark Twain with his Huck Finn, then follwed Harper Lee's Scout, finally John Grisham with Luke Chandler.
Growing up in the Deep South is a great advenure, even if one just witnesses things happen in other people's life. Luke is an hero in the way he can keep secrets (and he is burdened with them until the very last page), and he really shows a great courage. The picture of the life of sharecroppers and farmers in excellent and one really have to compare his/her life to the daily labours of the Chandlers before complaining for hard work.
Fluently written and gripping.
Once John Grisham decides to quit legal thriller is for a very goood reason indeed!

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Ciski72 said on Feb 29, 2012 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Cotton-picking season in 1952 rural Arkansas seen through the eyes of a seven-year old boy. His escape from all the hardships of farming is baseball - listening to radio broadcasts of the Cards' games is almost the only family leisure, and he dreams of running away from it all one day and becoming a ... (continue)

Cotton-picking season in 1952 rural Arkansas seen through the eyes of a seven-year old boy. His escape from all the hardships of farming is baseball - listening to radio broadcasts of the Cards' games is almost the only family leisure, and he dreams of running away from it all one day and becoming a Cardinal himself.

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ary29 said on Nov 23, 2011 | Add your feedback

A Painted House

An enjoyable read. I always enjoy John Grishams novels.

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Lindyloumac said on Aug 31, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I wasn't sure I would like this novel since it's not Grisham's usual legal thriller, but I loved the characters. This turned out to be one of my favorite books.

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Kim said on Mar 28, 2009 | Add your feedback