Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird, the twentieth-century's most widely read American novel, has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. Yet despite the book's perennial popularity, its creator, Harper Lee has become a somewhat mysterious figure. Now, after years of research, Charles J. Shields has brought to life the warmhearted, high-spirited, and occasionally hardheaded woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters — Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout — and who contributed to the success of her lifelong friend Truman Capote's masterpiece, In Cold Blood.

At the center of Shields's lively book is the story of Lee's struggle to create her famous novel. But her life contains many other highlights as well: her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved father's reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Capote's ally and research assistant to help report the story of the Clutter murders; the surrogate family she found in New York City.

Drawing on six hundred interviews and much new information, Mockingbird is the first book ever written about Harper Lee. Highly entertaining, filled with humor and heart, this is an evocative portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal.

To Kill a Mockingbird—the twentieth century's most widely read American novel—has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. Yet despite her book's perennial popularity, its creator, Harper Lee, has become a somewhat mysterious figure. Now, after years of research, Charles J. Shields brings to life the warmhearted, high-spirited, and occasionally hardheaded woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters—Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout.

At the center of Shields's evocative, lively book is the story of Lee's struggle to create her famous novel, but her colorful life contains many highlights—her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved father's reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Truman Capote's ally and research assistant to help report the story of In Cold Blood. Mockingbird—unique, highly entertaining, filled with humor and heart—is a wide-ranging, idiosyncratic portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal.

To Kill a Mockingbird--the twentieth century's most widely read American novel--has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. Yet despite her book's perennial popularity, its creator, Harper Lee, has become a somewhat mysterious figure. Now, after years of research, Charles J. Shields brings to life the warmhearted, high-spirited, and occasionally hardheaded woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters--Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout.

At the center of Shields's evocative, lively book is the story of Lee's struggle to create her famous novel, but her colorful life contains many highlights--her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved father's reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Truman Capote's ally and research assistant to help report the story of In Cold Blood. Mockingbird--unique, highly entertaining, filled with humor and heart--is a wide-ranging, idiosyncratic portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal.

Charles J. Shields, a former English teacher who taught Harper Lee's novel for years, has a BA in English and an MA in American history from the University of Illinois, where he was a James Scholar. He and his wife, Guadalupe, reside in Barboursville, Virginia. To Kill a Mockingbird, the twentieth-century's most widely read American novel, has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. Yet despite the book's perennial popularity, its creator, Harper Lee has become a somewhat mysterious figure. Now, after years of research, Charles J. Shields has brought to life the warmhearted, high-spirited, and occasionally hardheaded woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters--Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout--and who contributed to the success of her lifelong friend Truman Capote's masterpiece, In Cold Blood.

At the center of Shields's lively book is the story of Lee's struggle to create her famous novel. But her life contains many other highlights as well: her girlhood as a tomboy in overalls in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved father's reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Capote's ally and research assistant to help report the story of the Clutter murders; the surrogate family she found in New York City.

Drawing on six hundred interviews and much new information, Mockingbird is the first book ever written about Harper Lee, and is an evocative portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal. This biography will not disappoint those who loved the novel and feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout, in whom Harper Lee put so much of herself.--Garrison Keillor, The New York Times Book Review This biography will not disappoint those who loved the novel and feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout, in whom Harper Lee put so much of herself.--Garrison Keillor, The New York Times Book Review Mr. Shields constructs a worthwhile portrait of Harper Lee].--Janet Maslin, The New York Times The biography's strengths are all the ways it brings together pieces of Lee's life to form the portrait of its subtitle. Particularly compelling is its treatment of periods in the writer's life after her childhood in Monroeville . . . It] provides a valuable historical context for events, including Lee's choice of a 'crime that shocked the readers of The Monroe Journal when she was a child' as inspiration for Tom Robinson's rape trial in the novel . . . There are many details to be savored in the accounts of Lee's arrival in New York in 1949, at 23 . . . Shields' account of the filming of To Kill A Mockingbird is a highlight too . . . The book] conveys a fuller sense of Lee's life and times worth having. As a bonus, it will almost certainly make you] want to reread To Kill a Mockingbird and In Cold Blood.--Lynna Williams, Chicago Tribune

Admirers of Harper Lee] and her masterwork can . . . be grateful to biographer Charles J. Shields for shedding some much-needed light on Miss Lee's family, friends, background and literary accomplishment . . . Mr. Shields has produced a work that all future biographers of Harper Lee will need to consult for its many commendable aspects.--James E. Person, Jr., The Washington Times What can be known about Lee] has been collated and analyzed in Mockingbird, a new biography by Charles Shields that seeks to explain more of Lee's life as a writer and as a person of her times . . . Shields' painstaking research does a great job in bringing out the complexity of Lee's character.--Betsy Aoki, The Seattle Times Shields answers most of my questions, tells me what I wanted to know, fills in blanks I did not even know were there . . . Shields' exhaustive research has enabled him to tell us Lee's] story much as a historian might tell of the life of a great figure recently passed away . . . Shields reveals in a well-paced, cleanly written narrative that brings the reader as close to the subject as the reader needs to be . . . This is a book for anyone who loves To Kill a Mockingbird. Teachers who teach it . . . will find a treasure trove of information to pass onto their students. Writers who admire it will identify with the trials and tribulations of turning blank paper into something someone someday might read. And everyone else, regular readers who discovered something in her book that touched them personally, will find something in the life of Harper Lee that explains why this story moves them so.--Harvey H. Jackson, Anniston Star (Alabama) Researched and written with such painstaking care and dedication, is . . . a readable and useful companion to Lee's one great novel.