The Pelican Brief Books

I own a first edition of this book. Brandt Van Blarcom Dixon is my ancestor. He lived to be 93 and was reknowned as a humble and wise man. For thirty years, he was the first and only President of Sophie Newcomb College (all the subsequent leaders were called Deans). It is a very interesting story about the beginnings of a school for women in the late 1800's whose name became synonomous with fine art (Newcomb Pottery) and with the recognition of women as productive and creative people, rather than solely mothers and wives.
Brandt Dixon was an adventurer, a scholar, a mines inspector, a chemist and, finally, an educator. He was recruited by Tulane U. in the 1980's from St. Louis, MO to found, staff, equip and begin a school for women that would be the first of its kind west of the Mississippi to graduate women with a skill that could earn them a living on their own.
This book is an account of how he accepted the task, searched for teachers, recruited students, designed courses and classrooms, publicized the new college's mission and , for thirty years, led Sophie Newcomb College to prominance in the US and abroad.
His writings are full of anecdotes, wit, logic and personal reflection. Anyone interested in the history American education and/or in the history of women's emergence as artists will enjoy this book.

One of Grisham's best...couldn't put this one down ... every page was better than the last ..full of class and suspense!
This one got me hooked on Grisham!

Maurine Bergerie was one of my high school teachers, an interesting person and a great educator. In They Tasted Bayou Water, she provides a brief history of Iberia Parish which began with the Settlement of New Iberia in 1779 by the Spanish. Louisiana was under Spanish control from 1763-1803 although administration began in 1768. The Spanish soldiers were joined by settlers from the Canary Islands. Ms. Bergerie captures the spirit of the people and her love of Iberia Parish can be seen throughout the book.

Not exactly a fan of Grisham's novel but 'A Time to Kill' did open up my mind on terms of justice and the meaning of law.The "beauty" of discrimination and the "joy" of suffer and anguish.Personally, I'm impressed with the theme that he presented and the flow of his idea in captivating the reader's point of view.To be able to "sense" the meaning of democracy and to share the same enthusiasm makes me merely impressed with his writing.What we've read in his novels are some of the normal "thing" that happens in our lives but it takes so much more in "bringing" it to life.That is what John Grisham has done to me and definately to all his readers.

" A time to Kill" - the most fascinating novel I ever read ..it hasa mixture of drama,suspense,action and comedy..it has everything that will make your reading time unnotice as if you don't want to stop until the end...more power to John Grisham....

John Grisham is an excellent writer, and this collection of four of his works is great. The story behind The Chamber is griping, strong and emotional. The Client is a quick paced enjoyable book, and A Time to Kill is an incredible book of the justice system in our country. I was never extremely fond of Pelican Brief, so I'll leave out a comment on it. Excellent books for people of any age.

Half way through I started to lose interest. I have an opinion about capital punishment, and John Grisham caused me to examine it more closely. However, the point to me was not whether or not it is it right, but why does it take so long to carry our these sentences? I suspect his motivation for writing this book may lie, in part, in an attempt to sway the reader to his thinking. The book drags for the last half, and I wasn't swayed.

i thought that this book was very anticipating yet interesting. it kept me wanting to read it until the end. theres some action in it and theres a lot of drama on both sides of the conflict. although much of the book was in the courtroom i could say that much action was taken place outside of the courthouse. there are characters that i think the author makes u not like which is understandable considering what they've done. then theres the people u feel sympathy for and can do nothing about it. overall i would rate this a 4 star novel

I like John Grisham about every 4th or 5th book. His Rainmaker was terrific, and The Firm was rather sweet too. This novel, his third after The Firm and A Time to Kill, was crap--serious diarrhea. Grisham has stated in interviews he writes a book every six months. Reading the prose of this novel, I'm surprised he didn't do it in six weeks or even six days.

Where do I start in listing all the horrible aspects of this novel? I don't know but here goes:

- The flat, flat characters. None of the characters have any personalities to speak of--no distinguishing traits, no quirks, no hobbies, nothing. They simply exist to move the plot along.

- The boilerplate, cliched dialog. This is the novel where characters say stuff like "Let's go for a walk," followed up, "Wow, this is a nice walk." It's THAT bad. And when people get mad, they say stuff like, "I'll sue you for a million bucks if you touch me." Ohh, God, reading the dialog must've lowered my IQ to Forrest Gump levels.

- The dead prose. Buildings are either "small" or "big." And people, when mad, "snort" and "sneer." Of course, some people might say, "Well, Grisham's going for a minimalist approach." Well, there's good minimalist prose and there's crap minimalist prose--Grisham's the latter. If you want GREAT, unique minimalist prose, read James Ellroy. If you want to read prose apparently written by a high-schooler, read Grisham here.

- The plot. This story is essentially one entire chase sequence, and not a very interesting one at that. I won't dis the totally unrealistic nature of this story--it goes with the thriller territory--but I don't want to spend how many hours reading about flat characters hiding in hotels and saying stupid, kindergarten stuff that are in really bad B-list movies.

So . . . in conclusion, this is a really terrible, terrible novel. It's not as terrible as, say, a James Patterson novel, but it's close. If you haven't read Grisham before, stay away from this novel and read The Rainmaker instead. And The Firm and The Innocent Man. Everything else you can pretty much ignore. And if you're a masochist, well, why don't skip Grisham altogether and read James Patterson or Clive Cussler or Allan Folsom.

If you are thinking about going to law school, this wouldn't be a bad novel to read to get a sense of what the profession is all about before you commit yourself to three expensive (and potentially boring) years of education. I don't recall a book that displays so many of the corrupt sides of legal practice and education in a single fictional tale. If that weren't enough, the book also delves deeply into the international assassination genre and creates a modern-day fictional version of investigating a government cover-up at the highest levels, a la Watergate.

But a pure heart among all the jaded ones can make a difference . . . that's the morale of this story as beautiful, dedicated, and brilliant law student Darby Shaw speculates on what motive might tie the assassination of two Supreme Court justices back to a pending legal case. Improbably (the weakest part of the story), she sniffs out the potential that no one else does -- that this is an attempt to fix an appeal.

The Pelican Brief as a title is a misnomer. Darby writes her thoughts (a crude essay, not a brief) about what might be going on and shares them with her professor lover who passes them along to a counsel for the FBI. Pretty soon someone is taking her ideas seriously, and the pages will fly through your fingers as fast as you can read until you get to the end.

John Grisham doesn't quite have his genres down in this book, and apparently the success of The Firm meant that his editors were more interested in getting The Pelican Brief published than making it better. You could fix this novel into a five-star effort with about two hours of editing to reduce the improbabilities and speed up the slow parts.

But if you don't mind having unlikely events pull a riveting story together, you'll have a lot of fun with The Pelican Brief. I listened to the reading by Alexander Adams and felt that the story worked better listened to than it would be if read silently.

I admire John Grisham for the imagination to conceive of such a wild story. He kept surprising me with his plot developments, and the trip was almost all fun.

Rather shocked to see any negative reviews. This book is a wonderful page turner. I was lost in the world of small intelligent law student, fighting for her life inside the world of DC powerhouses and the elite rich. Gripping. I still think about the book often, and I read it about 6 years ago. Great read.

Washington wakes up to the gruesome news that two members of the Supreme Court have been murdered overnight. The shocking part was in their diversity. The old, should have retired years ago, Democrat Justice Rosenberg and the younger Republican Justice Jensen. The fact that they were almost always on opposite sides of any issue left law enforcement with no clear political motive. The only clues left behind seemed to be ones of the killer's choosing. A nylon cord used to garrote Jensen as he sat in a movie house watching a porno film. The Rosenberg affair was messy - three people dead, three 22-caliber bullets to the head of each victim Rosenberg, a guard and an aid.
Down in bayou country Tulane University law professor Thomas Callahan on hearing the news got roaring drunk to ease the pain. Rosenberg was one of his idols and he couldn't believe the end had come.
While the whole country pondered the reason behind the killings Darby Shaw, a bright law student and bed partner of professor Callahan turns sleuth. Ms. Shaw pores over the current Supreme Court docket and eventually comes up with a promising case. And for the next four days she shuffles through pages of affidavits detailing lies and abuses by lawyers and their clients.
In the end Darby Shaw writes an eight-page draft of what will later be called the Pelican Brief. Shaw is only half convinced that she is on to something, however, in spite of her skepticism she turns the pages over to Callahan.
Callahan attends the Rosenberg funeral in Washington and passes the brief along to a colleague. And once copies of those pages get into the wrong hands Darby Shaw becomes the hunted.
John Grisham takes us through a fast paced cat and mouse investigation, and in the end solves the puzzle to everyone's satisfaction.

Tom Barnes author of:
`The Goring Collection'
`The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle'
`Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone'
The Goring Collection
The Hurricane Hunters And Lost in the Bermuda Triangle
Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone: The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday

Grisham is a great writer and started great with his first three novels with this being his third. I give a five star rating when I can't stop turning the pages and do not want to put the book down. The story has backgrounds in New Orleans. Washington, D.C., and New York City.

This story was non-stop action and suspense with rivetting excitment. It has a heroine, Darby Shaw, who is beautiful and smart. She is a law student who does a Brief on the murder of two Supreme Court Justices. This causes a lot of people to be murdered and puts Darby on a run for her life. This all started with an injunction to stop oil drilling in the marshes of Louisiana and try to save the home of the Brown Pelicans.

"Four-thirty A.M. He listened to the voice, jumped to his feet, and eight minutes later was in the oval office. . . "They're both dead."' Not only was the president in shock, but all of America was stunned to know that two of their Supreme Court justices were murdered in the same night. Darby Shaw, an innocent law student, guessed who the criminal master mind behind this evil trick was. Once the FBI got a hold of the brief her world was instantly turned upside down. Darby was scared to death, only trusting one ambitious reporter and constantly watching her back.

The Pelican Brief is an action filled, legal thriller and kept me turning the pages. "The explosion knocked her to the sidewalk. She landed on all fours, facedown. . . She gaped in horror at the parking lot." (pg.127) this event really picked up and started the story. Though the plot line can get slow at times within a chapter you will be reading as fast as you can to find out what happens next. I would recommend this book for all mature readers, since this novel has a complex plot line and some language not suitable for children. Don't miss this gripping novel.

In this early novel by Grisham, he dives into the intrigue and secrets of Washington insiders, the murder of 2 supreme court justices, and the conspiracy behind it. A law student at Tulane University writes a brief nicknamed the Pelican Brief in which she proposes one of the president's financial supporter's link to the murders. This happens to fall into the hands of the FBI then makes its way to the President and CIA. They launch an all out investigation but apparently whomever ordered the original murders doesn't like this and begins knocking off more people. The law student connects with a reporter from the Washington Post and they go on a wild chase to prove the veracity of the brief while running from the killers.

Written in his classic legal thriller style, The Pelican Brief is quality Grisham fiction and will keep you turning the pages to the end.

The Pelican Brief is absolutely filled with suspense, and a plot that will leave you guessing at every corner. Truly hard to put down, even when the digital clock says its 2 a.m. This novel contains every single Grisham quirk which readers delight, whilst deviating from Grisham's usual court-room sanctum.

Tulane law student Darby Shaw has unknowingly stumbled upon an incredible discovery: the true identity of the man who orchestrated the heinous killings of two Supreme Court justices. Now the killer, an huge oil mogol, will stop at nothing to silence anyone who comes in contact with the highly incriminating evidence: the pelican brief. Already Shaw's professor and lover has been murdered, and the body count is yet to climb. Darby is on the run and has become increasingly paranoid. Only one person who holds a critical link to the crime is able to help her: Gray Grantham, a Washington Post writer. Darby must now choose between fleeing the country for her safety, or riding shotgun with Grantham who is dead-set on exposing the killer in what proves to be a wild and dangerous ride that eventually brings down the Presidency.

The Pelican Brief is not a novel to ignore. Grisham readers and those not familiar with his works will undoubtedly be drawn into his world.

I thought this book was a little hard to follow. I found that I was often looking back to see who a character was and when and how he/she was introduced. Great main characters and story line.

I normally like Grisham's work, and I think his first two novels were first-rate. THE PELICAN BRIEF, however, suffers from a remarkably silly plot.

You're supposed to believe that a 25-year old law student is able to figure out something that the CIA, FBI, Supreme Court, and national media cannot. I'm a lawyer, and I found the legal aspect of this book to be absolutely ridiculous. I realize THE PELICAN BRIEF is meant to be escapist entertainment, but I think a plot has to be half-way credible in order for me to enjoy it.

It didn't help that the characterization was paper-thin and on the level of caricature. The heroine of this book is beautiful and smart, but has very little real personality. She spends most of her time running from place to place, dodging inept assassins. Her two love interests in this novel are lecherous and not the least bit likable.

If you've never read Grisham before, my advice is to skip this book and read THE FIRM or A TIME TO KILL instead. Those novels are far superior to THE PELICAN BRIEF.

The story of a young, second year Tulane University law student, Darby Shaw, getting in way over her head when she inadvertently writes a brief outlining the possible links to the murders of two Supreme Court Justices. Just as Darby feels her theory is ridiculous and tosses it aside, her lover as well as Professor of constitutional law, Thomas Callahan, picks it up to read and decides it merits the review by his friend who just happens to be general counsel for the FBI. As the brief, now known as the Pelican Brief (for reasons of protection of a rare breed of pelicans and the people who are out to steal the land they need to survive for greed's sake) makes its way all the way up to a connection with the President of the United States, people on all levels associated with either the workings of the brief or with Darby herself, begin to die. Darby finds herself running for her life, with not a soul she can trust. Grisham takes us through a nail-biting scenario of dirty lawyers, dirty politics and an innocent girl fighting for her life. I felt the characters became difficult to keep up with and I had to totally concentrate on each and every scenario. The story is the peak of deception as well as a very well developed theory of environmental espionage. If you want to read a book that will really make you think, then definitely get a copy of "The Pelican Brief." It is much better than the movie.

I loved this book. I think it addressed an important issue we all throw to the wayside. It was a real eye opener and it can be an example to its many readers.

I loved this book. I think it addressed an important issue we all throw to the wayside. It was a real eye opener and it can be an example to its many readers.

This one kind of disappointed me. It based itself on an issue that is valid, and the message about the pilght of the homeless is an important one. But the anticipation for another hot Grisham made this book seem unfulfilling! Otherwise, it is a great read!

First let me say that all previous books were very well written and lived up to the rave reviews. However "The Street Lawyer" lost all interest for me after the second reference to the eeeevil Republicans not taking care of us all from cradle to grave. I shall not read another John Grisham book.

Grisham does it again. A great story but not a great writer, he manages to create suspense and intrigue in his own personal manner. And the best part is that you can read it in a weekend.

Besides the fact that you might need a dictionary handy(a bit of legal mumbo jumbo!)-This is a keeper! Don't get discouraged by the first two chapters. You'll get hooked immediately after that!