Indonesia

Indonesia
BATU, Indonesia. Photo by Jes Aznar

Monday, December 25, 2006

The Innocent Man


Just finished reading John Grisham's first nonfiction work and latest book, The Innocent Man. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy nonfiction that reads like fiction. I am reminded of my favorite author Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.

The Innocent Man tells the story of a man sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. Grisham said he was simply flipping through the newspaper when an obituary caught his attention..."Ronald Williamson, Freed from Death Row, Dies at 51."

Wrote Grisham: "I read it the second time. Not in my most creative moment could I conjure up a story as rich and as layered as Ron's. And, as I would soon learn, the obituary barely scratched the surface....Writing nonfiction has seldom crossed my mind--I've had far too much fun with the novels--and I had no idea what I was getting into."

More than the lessons about capital punishment and injustice, reading the book made one thing clear - real life is so much more colorful than fiction.