Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee: Revised and Updated - Paperback

by Charles J. Shields (Author)

To Kill a Mockingbird - the twentieth century's most widely read American novel - has sold thirty million copies and still sells a million yearly. But despite the book's popularity, its author Harper Lee has always been a mysterious figure. In this in-depth biography, first published in 2006, Charles J. Shields finally brings to life the woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters, Atticus Finch and his daughter Scout.

Years after its initial publication, with updates throughout the book and a new Afterword, Shields brings us up to date on all the major Harper Lee events since 2006. There's the scandal with allegations that Lee's agent has been trying to steal the copyright for To Kill a Mockingbird, the death of Lee's dear sister Alice, scandalous accusations of elder abuse, and - most vitally - the release of Lee's long buried first novel, never before published, and the ensuing public devouring of what has truly become the book of the year, if not the decade - Lee's Go Set a Watchman.

Author Biography

Charles J. Shields is the author of And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life (Holt 2011), a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book. Also, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (Holt 2006), an acclaimed, bestselling biography, recently revised as Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee from Scout to Go Set a Watchman (Holt 2016). I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers 2008) is for young adults. He is also the author of nonfiction books for young people. He and his wife reside in Charlottesville, Virginia.