Rating: 
Summary: terrible
Review: I rarely throw away books but I made an exception for "The Street Lawyer." I picked it up after I read and really enjoyed "The Pelican Brief." After a promising start, the book becomes preachy, didactic, slow, and plain old boring. There are no plot twists and no interesting characters. The writing style is amateurish at best. Grisham can definitely write page turners, "The Pelican Brief" and "The Firm" come to mind, but this is not one of them. Skip the book. It's a waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: This was a great book and a page turner. I'd say Grisham did a great job of writing about the homeless and making the reader evaulate their lives and what maybe they could do.
Rating: 
Summary: Plup Fiction
Review: Another one in the Grisham burn and churn machine of legal thrillers. All of his stories are about the same so I will not add to the other reviews full of the story details. I just could not believe the main story line, and for me that spelled the death of the book. I kept saying to my self - "yea right". Overall, the author continues in his long chain of McBooks and gives us something that holds your interest over TV commercials, but really does not offer a sink your teeth into story. This book is a light, easy to read and complete legal novel that will be forgotten in a few years.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Story Bad Politics
Review: Grisham makes a nice story with this book and his main character is a sympathetic one. The other charaters are the usual cynical people. The problem I had was with the politics of the book. If Mr. Grisham wants to help the homeless, have at it. But by reading this book the homeless have no responsibility for where they are or that they remain where they are. It is the fault of the Republican Congress, who have this silly notion that the taxes they receive should not be poured out to people who choose not to work and pay taxes or the cops or the rich. It is all some one else's fault. Again the story is not bad but ignore the politics.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read wanted a little more court room action
Review: This is an excellent book to read. I wanted a little more court room drama. This book showed the human side of law and lawyers. A good read.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: This is another winner from Grisham. The books grabs you immediately by opening with a homeless person raiding a law office and holding some attorneys hostage. The story unfolds from there as the lead character does a complete turnaround with his life and goes from a money-worshipping $300/hour attorney to a $30,000/year street lawyer. Of course there is a twist in the tale, and Grisham tells it well. There is a social message as well, and it would be nice if everyone took a little something from this book and tried to make a small difference in the lives of homeless people.
Rating: 
Summary: Street Lawyer
Review: John Grisham wrote the novel Street Lawyer which is a very well written piece of literature. This is not an American Classic and will probably not be passed down from generation to generation, but it is a good book to pick up whenever interested. The only thing that most would not like about it is that it kind of moves a little slow. There is so much action in the beginning that the rest of the book seems to follow through too slowly. The first half of the book is very interesting and honestly, is very hard to put down. Once the second half gets into gear the book starts to change, for the better, for the worse, well that is up to the reader to decide. It is a good book because it doesn't leave a cliff hanger for the sequel, everything is resolved and basically ends. This book is one that most will enjoy, in other words I suggest this should be a book that you plan on reading sometime soon. I haven't had that much experience with great novels however from what I know and have read so far, this is definitely a book for those whom just enjoy reading.
Rating:
Summary: this book is amazing.
Review: Although I am not a Grisham fan I believe this book is absolutely amazing. The beginning took off quick and it just kept going, I couldn't put the book down. The idea of just waking up and your life changing in just a week is incredible. He's on the verge of death then takes on a new profession. And seeks to help others, what more can you possibly ask for? I'd give it 10 stars if I could. I recommend this book to anyone who loves lawyer books.
Rating:
Summary: Lawyer turned author
Review: Grisham's formal training as a lawyer rather than an author shows through here. He seems incapable of keeping up with publishing demands and therefore is forced to submit rather uninteresting, poorly conceived, poorly executed drivel. The Street Lawyer examines a fast-track younger middle-aged Michael, who has a life-changing event and begins helping the homeless with fervor. His whole-hearted enthusiasm never flags despite the many hardships both physical and mental (and the separation from his wife). He's the go-getter do-gooder I guess Grisham thinks we all should be. It's not interesting.The simple-mindedness of Michael is the book's greatest offense. He is surprised by the animosity groups of homeless show him though (surprise again!) on an individual basis they are fine. He is pushed into overdrive to help a single mother break her drug addiction. He can MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I would have much rather seen a more complex, involving plot around the eviction but that seems just a background for Grisham to preach to us by showing the reborn Michael. The ending with its burgeoning romance / the reaction of Michael's former employer is repulsive. If you've been frustrated by that point, these gems will send you over the edge. I recall having read previous works and finding them either more complex (The Chamber, A Time to Kill) or more thrilling (The Firm, The Runaway Jury). The Street Lawyer fails by both these criteria.
Rating:
Summary: Remove Political Filters Before Reading
Review: My wife and I both read "The Street Lawyer", and while we both agree that it's a pretty good read, my wife found it somewhat boring and depressing while I found it to be an interesting and thoughtful look at the interaction (or better still, the lack of interaction) between the legal profession (of which I'm a part) and the homeless. There's no doubt that the profession could and should do more for those who are less fortunate, and I think this book does a good job of putting that into perspective, although it is just a bit preachy. Aside from a somewhat incredible part about a homeless man holding the members of a law firm hostage, it is a believable and forthright look into the world of poverty law and pro-bono work. What I find particularly bothersome and somewhat offensive were the somewhat politically charged opinions of some other readers that this book was a springboard for the author's political views (of which Grisham doesn't appear to have made his readers aware), or that it is written with a "liberal" viewpoint. It's unfair and rather ignorant to refer to anything that attempts to raise social consciousness as "liberal". This is yet another example of how the dreaded "L" word gets overused these days by self-absorbed, ignorant people who disagree with anything that brings attention to the social problems of this country that they'd prefer we didn't talk about because it reflects their own selfishness and greed. Read the book with your political filter (of whatever persuasion) turned off and enjoy it for what it is.
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