Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee

I've read To Kill A Mockingbird many times since I was a boy growing up in Georgia in the 1960s. Although the events described in the novel took place some thirty years before my own childhood, I remember being delighted by how familiar Jem, Scout, and Dill's lives seemed, and by how much my own small town resembled Maycomb, Alabama. As I grew older and gained more perspective, I recognized how important Harper Lee's novel is in interpreting and documenting the history of the South. The author was always described as a recluse who never wrote anything else and was rarely seen or heard from. Fortunately, that turns out to be more rumor than reality, as Charles J. Shields so ably shows here. Mockingbird reads as easily and beautifully as Harper Lee's novel itself. Nelle Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, attended college and law school, then ran away to New York City to become a writer. Throughout the 1950s she worked at various humdrum jobs while scribbling away on a set of stories that eventually grew into a great novel. After To Kill A Mockingbird's overnight success the pressure grew for a follow up novel, which she seems to have worked on in fits and starts for many years before finally abandoning it. Now she spends her time between Monroeville and New York City, not exactly shunning the limelight but certainly never seeking it out. Shields did a remarkable job of reconstructing the life of this brilliant, puzzling, lady without ever having the chance to speak to her himself. Her millions of readers from around the world will feel that, at long last, they know her a bit better.

If you're at all interested in Harper Lee the author, her relationship with Truman Capote and why she never wrote another book, this is a great profile. The author really did his research. but also writes in a very fluid, entertaining way.

I am not normally a reader of non-fiction, however having been a fan of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD for years (both the book and movie), I was eager to read this book. It seems as though Harper Lee has been nearly as reclusive as J.D. Salinger, and this wonderful book by Charles J. Shields provides a great deal of information and insight into her life before and after TKAM was published. While the chapters about Lee's growing up years in Monroeville, AL were quite interesting, it is the chapters that focus on her relationship with Truman Capote and her role as his "Researchist" for IN COLD BLOOD that I found fasinating. Lee worked tirelessly for and with Capote during this time and (as Capote himself admitted) was crucial in getting the trust of the Holcomb, KS community in order to get the interviews and information needed for Capote to write his book. His "snub" of acknowledging her efforts dealt a serious blow to their lifelong friendship. Why did Lee never write another book? I'm not sure we get a clear cut answer here, but there might not be one either. Shields provides some possible reasons though. Interviews and lecture requests, promotion of the book and movie and general demands on her time lasted for a number of years, thus preventing her from giving a second novel the time and attention it deserved. There is not a great deal of information about Nelle's life now, other than the she is alive and well, living with her 95 year old sister Alice in Monroeville, and we really don't need to know much else. Harper Lee wrote arguably, THE great American novel and her life now, as she chooses to live it, should be respected.

This book has all of the elements of a nonfiction classic: It is informative, covers a facinating topic, and -- most importantly -- is a delight to read. I couldn't put it down and finished it in less than two days. Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, the book is *not* boring. It is paced well, departing from chronological order in the right places to create narrative tension (it is obvious that this is an experienced and talented author). It also sheds very needed light on the revered but misunderstood author of one of the greatest books in American literature. I can't believe I have read To Kill a Mockingbird about 15 times, yet before this book I didn't even know the author's real first name. I was completely engrossed learning about the real-life people on which TKAM was based. I highly recommend the book if you love a good biography, if you loved To Kill a Mockingbird, or if you are just looking for a compelling nonfiction read. Well worth the time.

Charles J. Shields spent four hard years tracking down every possible lead about perhaps the most elusive of American literary celebrities, Nelle Harper Lee. Lee is determined to remain private, so Shields delves into past associations, finds people who attended college with her, people who influenced her career, and combs through the papers of her contemporaries in libraries across the country. I was fascinated with details about the lifelong, but difficult friendship with Truman Capote, and their collaboration (and the huge role Lee played) in writing "In Cold Blood." After seeing Lee's protrayal in the film, Capote, you'll have no choice but to pick up the book and find out more about this fascinating woman. The details of their younger years certainly inspired one of the best "teams" in literature, Scout and Dill. I have to admit, I am not a typical biography reader - I generally prefer fiction - but this book kept me up late reading and gave me a new appreciation for "To Kill a Mockingbird." I highly recommend it.