37. Mockingbird--Charles J. Shields

Charles J. Shields wrote this biography of Nelle Harper Lee without ever speaking to her--she refused. So, he interviewed hundreds of people who knew her throughout the years and used those observations to fashion a story of how To Kill a Mockingbird came to be and why Lee never wrote another book. He dispels the myth that Truman Capote wrote or at least contributed to TKAM, and emphasizes Lee's contribution to Capote's In Cold Blood.

Mockingbird received a number of bad reviews. There was a consensus that Shields spent too much time on unnecessary background detail, and that it was a mistake to write the book without talking to Lee. I agree to a certain extent; the picture of Lee is still a bit blurry. But to his credit, Shields anticipated this criticism. In the introduction he lamented his inability to speak to Lee herself, but stated that he wanted to go forward with the book so that he might have the opportunity to talk to many of Lee's contemporaries while they were still alive. A bit morbid, perhaps, but I appreciate Shield's efforts. Who doesn't want to know more about the elusive Harper Lee? Overall, the book sheds much light on the environment that brought about TKAM, although it doesn't successfully answer the question of why Lee never wrote another book. Still, I enjoyed it a great deal.