Scout, Atticus & Boo
In a time when fauxlebrities tweet every time they change their handbag, here鈥檚 a heartwarming tidbit: An octogenarian novelist made international headlines in June by feeding some ducks. (Take that, Kardashians.)
That Harper Lee isn鈥檛 just any novelist, and 鈥�To Kill a Mockingbird鈥� not just any book can be seen by the headlines across England, the US, and Canada 鈥� mostly variants on 鈥淗arper Lee Speaks鈥� 鈥� as a result of her 鈥渋nterview鈥� with Britain鈥檚 Mail newspaper. (The interview consisted in its entirety of her thanking a reporter for a box of chocolates and a mention of the waterfowl-nourishment expedition.)
鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird,鈥� which turns 50 on July 11, remains a crowning achievement, and its narrator, Scout Finch, one of the most beloved tomboys in American literature. (You could argue whether she or Jo March deserves first place, but I couldn鈥檛 imagine my childhood without either.)
鈥淏y any measure, it is an astonishing phenomenon,鈥� writes Mary McDonagh Murphy in her new book Scout, Atticus & Boo. 鈥淎n instant best seller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a screen adaptation ranked one of the best of all time. Fifty years after its publication, it sells nearly a million copies every year 鈥� hundreds of thousands more than The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, or Of Mice and Men, American classics that also are staples of high school classrooms. No other twentieth-century American novel is more widely read. Even British librarians, who were polled in 2006 and asked, 鈥淲hich book should every adult read before they die?鈥� voted To Kill a Mockingbird number one. The Bible was number two.鈥�
Or, as Oprah Winfrey, who tried but failed to get Lee to come on her TV show, put it, 鈥淚 think it is our national novel.鈥�
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Emmy-winner Murphy interviewed residents of Monroeville, Ala., which became Maycomb in the novel, as well as famous people who have said their lives were changed by reading the book. Interviewees include Winfrey, novelist Wally Lamb (who wrote the foreword), Tom Brokaw, Scott Turow, and Mary Badham, who played Scout in the Academy Award-winning movie. There also will be a documentary.
Lee鈥檚 first novel was also her last, which has only added to the 鈥淢ockingbird鈥� mystique.
鈥淚t was like being hit over the head and knocked out cold,鈥� Lee said in a 1964 interview (one of the last she ever gave). 鈥淵ou see, I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird.... I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of reviewers, but at the same time I sort of hoped that maybe someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick merciful death I鈥檇 expected.鈥�
Needless to say, the press-shy Lee did not sit for Murphy, but the book is worth the purchase price alone for its interview with her older sister, Alice Finch Lee. At 98, Lee still practices real estate law every day at the offices of Barrett, Bugg & Lee, although she now pairs tennis shoes with her suits. In addition to reminiscing about her mother and father, Lee recalls her youngest sister鈥檚 childhood friendship with writer Truman Capote. Lee lays the end of that friendship squarely at the feet of Capote, who she says was jealous of the success of 鈥淢ockingbird.鈥�
Capote comes up a lot in interviews 鈥� naysayers claim he helped write 鈥淢ockingbird,鈥� which is ironic, because Lee actually did help him write 鈥淚n Cold Blood.鈥� So does abolitionist novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe 鈥� with 鈥淢ockingbird鈥� holding the place of honor for the civil rights era that 鈥淯ncle Tom鈥檚 Cabin鈥� occupied during the Civil War 鈥� and another famously reclusive writer, J.D. Salinger. (鈥淩ecluse鈥� always seemed a little unfair to apply to Lee, who鈥檚 hardly a hermit living on a mountain. She just doesn鈥檛 like talking to reporters 鈥� at all, ever, even if they bring her chocolate.)
Not surprisingly, many of those interviewed are writers. Pulitzer Prize winners Rick Bragg and Richard Russo offer lovely interviews, while James Patterson says that 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird鈥� was one of only two books he was assigned in high school that he actually liked. (鈥淭he Catcher in the Rye鈥� was the other one.)
Best First Read Ever goes to novelist Mark Childress: 鈥淭he first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird I was in Monroeville, Alabama. It was two doors down from Nelle Harper Lee鈥檚 house. And I was on the porch of Miss Wanda Biggs鈥檚 house.... I was about nine years old, and she said, 鈥業 think it鈥檚 time for you to read this.鈥� She put it in my hands, and it was a first edition signed to her that I鈥檓 sure I spilled Coca-Cola on, and every other thing.... Every few hours she would wander out and say, 鈥楴ow you see that stump over there? That鈥檚 the tree where Boo hid the presents for the children. Did you get to the part yet about the school? If you go down this little pathway, that is where the school is.鈥� 鈥�
鈥淪cout, Atticus & Boo鈥� is a lovely celebration of 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird.鈥� And if, in the end, many of the interviews boil down to: This is a really, really good book... well, they鈥檙e right.
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.
