Born in 1955 in Arkansas, in the family of a construction worker, John Grisham went to school at Mississippi State University. He graduated from law school in 1981, and went on to practice law, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. He got involved in politics, and served in the state legeslature from 1983 to 1990.
When he started writing in 1987, he chose a subject he knew well, writing a legal thriller 'A Time To Kill', set in the south. The book was published in a small edition in 1988. His next book, 'The Firm' became a Paramount Pictures movie with the same name. He remained a bestselling author ever since.
John Grisham's books with the exception of 'A Painted House', 'Skipping Christmas', and 'Bleachers' can be called legal dramas. This description does not do them justice though. Part detective story, part thriller, they are always engaging page turners. Meticulously researched, they let you have a remarkably close and realistic look at the subject, and yet keep you guessing till the very end.
John Grisham wrote about one book a year since publishing 'A Time To Kill' in 1988. Nine of his books have been made into movies: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas.
John Grishams books:
A Time To Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, and The Broker, and his newest book The Innocent Man (October 2006), is his first work of non-fiction.

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Mark Twain (born Samuel Langhorne Clemens). November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910.
Often called the great American writer and the father of the American literature, Mark Twain wrote many important and popular books. He wrote comedy, satire, drama, fantasy, adventure. A great master of words, all of his books are truly enjoyable.
He grew up in Missouri before the Civil War. The war broke out when the author was 26. He joined on the Confederate side, with some of his friends, although only for a few weeks. He later wrote and spoke extensively against slavery, and for human rights.
Mark Twain had traveled widely in America and abroad. In his youth he was a Mississippi river pilot, traveled the American West during and after the Civil War. Later in life he traveled through Europe. All of his travels, and his great love for his country are reflected in both his fictional and non-fiction works.
Some of Mark Twain's works:
Novels
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, The Gilded Age, The American Claimant, A Double Barrelled Detective Story, A Dog's Tale, King Leopold's Soliloquy, Horse's Tale, Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven, The Adventures of Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, A Murder, A Mystery, and a Marriage, The Unnatural Son, The Adventures of Colonel Sellers,
Non fiction
The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain's Autobiography, Roughing It, The Innocents At Home, A Tramp Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, How to Tell a Story: And Other Essays, Following the Equator, English As She Is Taught, What Is Man?, My Debut As a Literary Person, Christian Science: With Notes Containing Corrections to Date , Is Shakespeare Dead?, Mark Twain's Speeches, Letters from the Earth,

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