Charles J. Shields Mockingbird

Mockingbird

Charles J. Shields

Holt, Jun 2006, $25.00

ISBN: 080507919X

One of the great mysteries of literature is why has Harper Lee never published a second novel after releasing the classic To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. Though Charles J. Shields provides an interesting look at the author's early years especially her work with Truman Capote in the 1950s that parallel what the recent film claimed as well as the success that the novel brought, he fails to obtain the answer to the key question why not a second book. Still this is a well written fascinating biography that fans of works on great writers (does one extraordinary season make you a Hall of Famer?) will enjoy MOCKINGBIRD, buts also feel a bit let down as the fundamental Lee question remains unanswered as if Ms. Lee "mocks" her biographer by forcing him to use anecdotal evidence to explain the unpublished recluse of the past four decades.

Harriet Klausner