Marilyn Stasio of The New York Times wrote that "Mr. Grisham, a criminal defense attorney, writes with such relish about the firm's devious legal practices that his novel might be taken as a how-to manual for ambitious tax-law students." [6] The film was released on VHS in December 1993, with the cassettes specially made of blue plastic. The DVD was released on May 23, 2000. The special features include only the teaser and theatrical trailers. A Blu-ray edition was released on September 11, 2012. Top five." Not top five percent, but top five. That was enough of an answer for all of them. Top five out of three hundred. He could have said number three, a fraction away from number two, and within striking distance of number one. But he didn’t. They came from inferior schools–Chicago, Columbia and Vanderbilt, as he recalled from a cursory examination of Martindale-Hubbell’s Legal Directory. He knew they would not dwell on academics. The only character worth discussing here is Mitch. Others are just “basic guy” type, “ugly women” type and “hot women” type. Nothing more can be said about them.

Mitch thought about this for a second and figured by the time he was thirty he could be well over a hundred thousand, maybe close to two hundred thousand. At the age of thirty! Mitchell McDeere comes out of law school top of his class, and he knows what he wants. He has drive. He lands in with a Firm with promises to make him abnormally rich, faster than usual, as long as he follows certain ethical rules (which I thought Grisham a brilliant writer; as a Christian he made a way around all the sexual and immoral craziness of that kind of lifestyle, a great example for my writing; I’m also a Christian). He ends up in a conspiracy between the Mob and the FBI, and becomes directly involved with both organizations at the same time. He fights to keep himself and his family alive. A smart guy, Mitch pulls a few brilliant stunts only a good lawyer could conjure.Mitch is left with no choice but to help. Mitch helps by copying ten thousand documents that reveal the extent of corruption performed by the firm on behalf of the Mafia. Fox, David J. (July 20, 1993). "Weekend Box Office: So Far, This Is Summer to Beat". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15 . Retrieved 2011-01-10.

No more clunkers. No more leftovers. No more hand-me-downs," she said as she slowly shook her head. Yep. Not some overpriced apartment in Manhattan, but a three-bedroom house in the suburbs with a driveway and a two-car garage where we can park the BMW." She took a long, deliberate drink of wine and eyed him suspiciously. Her brown eyes narrowed and glowed. The eyebrows lowered and the forehead wrinkled. She waited. Avery Tolar was originally Avery Tolleson; the latest version of the novel uses the film's surname. Tolar is portrayed as a sort of reluctant villain in the film, while in the novel he has no such moral conflicts. NBC Unveils Fall Primetime Schedule for 2011–12 Season". TheFutonCritic. May 15, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-09-13.BTW the proof that this book was not written with me in mind was in the scene when Mitch comes home. He cheated, he is afraid of being caught. And there is an envelope for his wife!! Our blood runs cold, heart skips a beat. Are these THE photos?? But then his wife said - “ah, no, just some empty envelope was delivered.” I always don't recycle them but lay down for my husband to see them. When I was reading this scene I imagined countless men reading this chapter and thinking about their wives and mistresses and being frightened vicariously through Mitch. The three looked at each other, then at Mitch. This meant they had reached the point in the interview where the interviewee was supposed to ask one or two intelligent questions. Mitch recrossed his legs. Money, that was the big question, particularly how it compared to his other offers. If it isn’t enough, thought Mitch, then it was nice to meet you fellas. If the pay is attractive, then we can discuss families and marriages and football and churches. But, he knew, like all the other firms they had to shadowbox around the issue until things got awkward and it was apparent they had discussed everything in the world but money. So, hit them with a soft question first. Actually, Harvard selected me. I applied at several schools and was accepted everywhere. Harvard offered more financial assistance. I thought it was the best school. Still do." George B. Crown, "Fictional Lawyers, Fictional Detectives and Fictional Criminals of the late 20th Century" in Barbara Wisenfeld (ed.) "Multi-Disciplinary Round Table on the Interface Between Popular Culture and Social Science" John Grisham Sequel to 'The Firm' Coming from Doubleday: 'The Exchange' Arrives This Fall". 29 March 2023.

Mitch McDeere has an IQ that’s off the Richter scale and has just finished a law degree at Harvard Uni and managed to come in third in his class.

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Lamar leaned forward. "You don’t have to be a partner to earn six figures. I’ve been with the firm seven years, and went over a hundred thousand four years ago." He kept me guessing to what happens next and next until the very end, but it hits you just when you least expect it. Very few books bring such anticipation as this one does. Forty-one lawyers. Last year we earned more per lawyer than any firm our size or larger. That includes every big firm in the country. We take only rich clients–corporations, banks and wealthy people who pay our healthy fees and never complain. We’ve developed a specialty in international taxation, and it’s both exciting and very profitable. We deal only with people who can pay." And he was tired. The work had finally beaten him down. He had saved many lives, lost his share along the way, and in doing so built a nonprofit that attracted enough money to sustain itself and enough talent to keep up the fight. His fight was fading fast, though, and his wife and doctor were badgering him to slow down. A low-interest mortgage loan. The firm loans enough money to buy a house. It’s very important to these guys that their associates look prosperous, so they give us the money at a much lower rate."

Starting at the top, I do have to say that while each of the characters were genuine and true-to-life, they were hardly engaging. Told in a round robin way via multiple, omniscient POVs, every perspective was covered. At the same time, though, it was delivered in a someway dry manner that kept me from really connecting with any of them along the way. Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for Mitch and Abby every step of their journey, but their sense of desperation was missing just a tad. Having watched the movie adaptation of The Firm, which starred none other than Tom Cruise as Mitch McDeere, I generally knew what to expect from the book. What I was unprepared for, however, was the perfect plotting, convincing characters, and one thoroughly epic game of cat-and-mouse. Simple. They offered me a full scholarship to play football. Had it not been for that, college would’ve been impossible." I guess I didn’t really like this book because it focuses on all the wrong things. There are so many tedious descriptions of fancy BMWs, luxury restaurants, private jets…etc. It is supposed to lure the reader into the appeal and temptation of the firm, but somehow working 18 hours a day on tax law never made any of it seem worth it to me. So right off the bat, I was frustrated by the degree to which Mitch ignored his wife and all other aspects of life so that he could slave away for the firm. It all changes one day when McDeere is having lunch at Lansky’s Deli. Special Agent Wayne Tarrance of the FBI approaches him and gives McDeere three pieces of advice and an offer he soon discovers he can’t ignore.They all say that, thought McDeere. "Okay, my father was killed in the coal mines when I was seven years old. My mother remarried and lives in Florida. I had two brothers. Rusty was killed in Vietnam. I have a brother named Ray McDeere."