While perusing the new releases at Amazon, I noticed local boy John Grisham’s new tome — The Appeal — and had a mini-freakout. Why, you ask?
Settle down, font dorks (a group I’m proud to be a part of). I know it’s not even close (the book title seems to be written in some kind of light version of Bodoni, while the CA’s nameplate is in Caslon). But still, it gave me a little thrill to think that maybe John Grisham might have spent a little ink on our dear daily and the riveting, fast-paced inner workings of a metro paper — the mayoral scandals! school shootings! the tanking newspaper industry! the undercover trips to the strip clubs! the book blogging!
But, alas, it’s another courtroom drama. Sorry, journalism nerds. Maybe next time.
Book Covers
Responses to “Duped!”
February 20th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I’ve never quite understood font dorks. But it always amazes me that you can see that those look nothing alike. Both Appeal’s look the same to me… maybe slightly different…
February 21st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Grisham definitely used to have opinions about The Commercial Appeal, if not about its type style, at least about its content. When Jon Sparks reviewed “A Time to Kill,” Grisham told Entertainment Weekly that his “hometown paper” had “trashed” him. Mr. Sparks says that’s a gross exaggeration of the facts. (jonwsparks.com/grisham)
February 21st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Hmmm, the review of Time to Kill may have hurt Grisham, though as Sparks says on his website it was v. mild. What really pissed grisham off though was Jon’s review of “The Chamber” in 1994. That review began “It is time to deliberate on John Grisham’s habitual literary offences,” and it went on to do just that. Until that review was published, Grisham was a pal of the CA. I did a big story about him after the success of “The Firm” and the building of the house outside Oxford and gave Pelican Brief a pretty favorable review. Grisham even entrusted me with his unlisted number (this was before cell phones were ubiquitous) and people who wanted to interview him knew to call me first. After Jon’s review of The Chamber came out though, grisham got a new number and the CA was crossed off his review copy list. It was years before we started getting his books from Doubleday again.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Since I quit Grishaming, I’ve devoted myself to reading one sentence from Finnegans Wake every day. I feel much better now.
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