Ford County

Ford County is a collection of novellas by John Grisham. His first collection of stories, it was published by Doubleday in the United States in 2009. The book contains 7 short stories or novellas: Blood Drive ; Fetching Raymond ; Fish Files ; Casino ; Michael's Room ; Quiet Haven ; Funny Boy. Blood Drive A young man named Bailey is injured in a construction accident in Memphis, Tennessee. His plight is publicized and three young men - Aggie, Calvin and Roger - decide to drive to Memphis to donate blood to him. Roger, an alcoholic, insists they stop at a gas station so he can purchase beer; he tells several stories about Memphis strip clubs, stimulating Aggie and Calvin's curiosity. They are nearly arrested for drunk driving by a sheriff's deputy and nearly shot by a homeowner. Arriving in Memphis, the three decide to hit up one of Roger's favorite strip clubs before donating their blood. Calvin falls in love with a stripper named Amber and takes her seriously when she calls him "cute". Drinking too much and unable to make their way around the city, the men eventually sell their blood at a nearby blood bank, having forgotten where Bailey is being treated. After passing out in the pickup, Roger awakens during a shootout between gangs and flees with a pistol he found under the pickup's seat. While pursued, Roger encounters a man and woman fighting next to a car and rescues the woman. She takes his gun and holds him hostage as he drives the car away. Aggie and Calvin return to find their pickup riddled with bullet holes. They return to the strip club to spend the fifty dollars apiece they received from the blood bank.