First, in response to the questions:

1. Throughout the book the characters and their stories are fleshed out. In what ways does William Traynor gradually become one of these local characters?

Traynor was from the north (way up in Memphis), and was looked on with suspicion because of his radical views and long hair. Once he took over the newspaper, he catered to the citizens and they came, in time, to accept him. Even so, he never quite felt part of the community. As Grisham put it, “They ask about your health, the weather; and they invite you to church. They rush to help strangers. But they don’t really trust you unless they trusted your grandfather.”

2. Racism and prejudice are main components of the storyline. In what ways, if any, is the community guilty of prejudice against Danny Padgitt and his family? Is this prejudice justified?

I guess I never saw racism and prejudice as important themes in the book. Racism was mentioned a few times as an established fact, but it didn’t really have much of an impact on the Ruffins, the one Black family we got to know. Except for a brief mention of Sam’s problems as the only Black student in his school and Callie’s experiences when she registered to vote, the Ruffins seemed to be successful and happy and totally willing to accept Traynor into their family — which never really rang true to me. As for the community’s feelings about the Padgitts, I’m not sure I consider that prejudice. It’s similar to the way I felt about the family that used to live up the street from us. They would light off thousands of fireworks during the week of July Fourth. Lit bottle rockets would land on my roof, my lawn would be littered with paper and the noise would rock our windows. I never saw the mother when she didn’t have a beer bottle in her hand, and the family used to stand in the front yard and swear at each other. Their two teenage boys were often in trouble with the law. I didn’t like living three doors down from them. They were a potential danger and lowered the quality of life in the neighborhood. I was happy when they moved away. Was that prejudice? No, it was common sense. It’s the same with the citizens of Clanton. The Padgitts were scum and everybody knew it. Danny Padgitt looked like a duck, walked like a duck and quacked like a duck. The townspeople knew he was a duck. The fact that there turned out to be a second duck in town doesn’t change the facts.

3. What role does Willie’s friendship with Callie play in the book? Why is it a necessary part of the storyline? What role do her children, especially Sam, play?

I’m not sure what role Willie’s and Callie’s friendship played. It seemed to be added to fill pages. I didn’t find the Ruffins to be particularly interesting characters, and they weren’t necessary to the other story lines. Sam, with his draft-dodging and hiding around the country was even less connected to the main story. When he finally returned home, there were no consequences. It was a total anticlimax.

4. Grisham’s inclusion of religion seems interesting. What do you think his purpose is in making it part of the novel? Do you think Willie learned any lessons from his visits to the churches? What was your reaction to Callie’s witnessing to Willie? Do you like the fact that Grisham included this aspect of the story? How do you think it affects a non-Christian’s approach to the book (or to religion in general)?

Grisham’s inclusion of religion left me cold. If he intended it to be a witness, I doubt it was successful. If the falsehoods about Jesus in The DaVinci Code shouldn’t be taken as truth, why would anyone take Grisham’s brief mentions of salvation as anything more than character padding? I guess Willie’s visits to the various churches were intended to show that Christian churches all basically believe the same thing and shouldn’t be so opposed to one another. To some extent, he’s probably right, especially in the way we present ourselves to the world. But I doubt anyone will come away from the book with a new attitude or appreciation for church. Willie never gets saved, although he “feels the Lord” in Callie’s hospital room and knows she’s going to live. And then she dies.

5. Are you from the South? If so, are you able to relate to the small town Southern community feel of the book? If not, do you feel you came away learning anything about this era in the South? What most surprised you or what part do you feel you have a better understanding of?

I’m not from the south, but I’ve been visiting my in-laws in Arkansas for 25 years now. I thought the small-town feel Grisham put into the beginning of the book was lost after the trial scene. Once the sniper and murders began, it didn’t seem at all realistic to me.

6. Sometimes we downplay popular novels of the day, such as Grisham’s, as not being very deep or important. In what way is he similar or different from older classics from the Carp list, such as Dickens’ popular novels which were published in serial form to a welcoming audience?

I think the main difference between Dickens books and Grisham’s books is that Dickens’ books are good. Grisham’s may be alright for a quick night’s read, but they won’t stand the test of time. I won’t be around in 50 or 100 years to know if I’m right, but I’m guessing Grisham’s books won’t be around then either. Unlike Grisham, Dickens (using admittedly-implausible coincidences) makes his plot threads tie together. If you or I had written The Last Juror, it wouldn’t have been published. Grisham was cashing off his name with this one, and like sheep, people are buying it.

Bottom line: I have no idea where Grisham was going with this book. Was it supposed to be about Willie Traynor growing up? He never did. He ended the book with 1.5 million dollars, no family and plans to travel. Was it supposed to be about life in a small southern town? As I said earlier, I thought the small-town feel was lost early on. And the characters weren’t very well defined. Grisham kept throwing people like Piston into the story without background, explanation or reason. Was it about the Ruffins? Then it was boring. Was it about Danny Padgitt? He wasn’t even around for half the book. And as it turned out, he wasn’t even relevant to the outcome. They guy who was the story was only briefly mentioned twice before the end, one of those times in a sniper scene that made no sense.

Too many characters and even the main ones were one-dimensional. Too many pointless scenes like Willie’s fling with Ginger and the Vietnam vet pot and poker party. The only person I remotely cared about was Willie and he was, in the end, worthless.