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book_concierge's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful, balanced biography of Nelle Harper Lee. I thought the author did a remarkable job of fairly portraying this reclusive author's life.
laila4343's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting subject matter propels the reader. Nelle Harper Lee is a fascinating woman and writer. An easy read.
beastreader's review against another edition
2.0
I read both the book and watched the movie, How to Kill a Mockingbird. The book and movie are a classic and rightly so. For a child actor, Harper Lee I thought she delivered just as a powerful performance as Gregory Lee did in the movie. Although this is really about the extent of my knowledge about Harper Lee. I am familiar with hearing and seeing the release of Harper's book, Go Set a Watchman but I have not read the book. Having admiration for Harper Lee I was looking forward to reading this book and learning who Harper Lee was from Scout to Go Set a Watchman. I thought that for the task that Mr. Shields had in front of him with not being able to interview his subject matter for this book, he did a fine job of gathering as much information as he could from others close to Harper Lee. Yet as I was reading this book not a lot of the details were sticking with me. It was like just reading fact cards which are fine but not that exciting. Despite my feelings about this book, I still will be a fan of Harper Lee.
schray32's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone who loves To Kill a Mockingbird will find this biography very interested. It is hard to believe that this amazing author has never written a second book.
caitpoytress's review against another edition
1.0
Dude should have written a straight out novelization of Harper Lee's life, or a Truman Capote bio. Not a fan of what he did here at all.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
Charles Shields is an excellent writer and speaker. He came and did our Big Read program. Very good book, lots of answers to questions about Harper Lee.
wsk56's review against another edition
4.0
This excellent biography of Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, was unauthorized, but this author did thorough and extensive research. Lee did not authorize any biography and rarely granted interviews. Especially interesting to me was the depiction of the writer's process and her reaction to fame and fortune. Her friendship with Truman Capote and her relationships with family members provide much of the story here, as well as the friendships she cultivated in New York as she wrote and rewrote Mockingbird. We also gain insight about why she never wrote another novel after Mockingbird. I truly enjoyed this book and now I want to go back and read Mockingbird again. I haven't read it since ninth grade. Thanks to my Mom for giving me this book!
vlphildreth's review against another edition
4.0
The non-linear narrative of this biography definitely kept me reading. Ms. Lee had a much more interesting life than I'd heard, so there were a lot of pleasant surprises in this book. I think it could have been a LOT shorter (some of the passages seemed like they were added for the sole purpose of giving the book more pages).
magmae's review against another edition
4.0
I loved learning more about Harper Lee, and what author Charles Shields lacks in rigor, he makes up for in entirely enjoyable prose. Time for a more scholarly read on HL, if there's one out there...
marie_gg's review against another edition
3.0
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2011/10/mockingbird-portrait-of-harper-lee.html
First of all, Charles J. Shields deserves kudos for tackling such an elusive subject. This is not an authorized biography of Nelle Harper Lee, because of course Lee would not respond to any of Shields' many requests for interviews or information.
He admits in his introduction that he had to rely heavily on the internet, library archives, and unorthodox methods (such as pretending to be one of Lee's college alums and obtaining a mailing list of her classmates). Consequently, I found myself pondering at some of his editorial choices and questioning why he included some of what he did. At times, it seemed like filler. As a result, as far as biographies go, I've read better.
Given the fact that we know so little about Lee's life and motivations, however, this book is a great addition to the Mockingbird canon. Shields, a former English teacher, writes extensively about Lee's friendship with Truman Capote and her childhood in Alabama. The only Capote work I've read is In Cold Blood, although I wasn't aware at the time that Lee assisted him so extensively in the research and writing (and did not receive any credit...apparently because he was envious of Lee's award of the Pulitzer prize).
Shields speculates about Lee's strained relationship with her mother and the fact that she never wrote another book. Again, he must rely on word of mouth, news articles and rare interviews, and guesswork. As a result, I found myself questioning the accuracy. I thought it was tacky and disrespectful that he revealed the name of the Monroeville, Alabama, restaurant where Lee and her sister Alice enjoy eating on a regular basis. We all know she is a woman who values her privacy.
In the end, this book is a fond remembrance of Lee--clearly, Shields has immense respect for his subject. She seemed exceedingly uncomfortable with the trappings of fame and the expectations of writers (to continue to produce). But Shields concludes that Lee has come to peace with her life. Soon after To Kill a Mockingbird was published, Lee wrote to friends, "People who have made peace with themselves are the people I admire most in the world." Shields, too, had to make peace with the lack of his personal insight about Lee, because of her reclusiveness.
First of all, Charles J. Shields deserves kudos for tackling such an elusive subject. This is not an authorized biography of Nelle Harper Lee, because of course Lee would not respond to any of Shields' many requests for interviews or information.
He admits in his introduction that he had to rely heavily on the internet, library archives, and unorthodox methods (such as pretending to be one of Lee's college alums and obtaining a mailing list of her classmates). Consequently, I found myself pondering at some of his editorial choices and questioning why he included some of what he did. At times, it seemed like filler. As a result, as far as biographies go, I've read better.
Given the fact that we know so little about Lee's life and motivations, however, this book is a great addition to the Mockingbird canon. Shields, a former English teacher, writes extensively about Lee's friendship with Truman Capote and her childhood in Alabama. The only Capote work I've read is In Cold Blood, although I wasn't aware at the time that Lee assisted him so extensively in the research and writing (and did not receive any credit...apparently because he was envious of Lee's award of the Pulitzer prize).
Shields speculates about Lee's strained relationship with her mother and the fact that she never wrote another book. Again, he must rely on word of mouth, news articles and rare interviews, and guesswork. As a result, I found myself questioning the accuracy. I thought it was tacky and disrespectful that he revealed the name of the Monroeville, Alabama, restaurant where Lee and her sister Alice enjoy eating on a regular basis. We all know she is a woman who values her privacy.
In the end, this book is a fond remembrance of Lee--clearly, Shields has immense respect for his subject. She seemed exceedingly uncomfortable with the trappings of fame and the expectations of writers (to continue to produce). But Shields concludes that Lee has come to peace with her life. Soon after To Kill a Mockingbird was published, Lee wrote to friends, "People who have made peace with themselves are the people I admire most in the world." Shields, too, had to make peace with the lack of his personal insight about Lee, because of her reclusiveness.