"Well, most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong ..."
"They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,"
said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.
The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience."
— To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
On July 11, 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. A year after its release, Harper Lee's debut novel won the Pulitzer Prize.
The critics' reception
The New Yorker called Lee "a skilled, unpretentious, and totally ingenious writer."
The Atlantic reviewer rated the book "pleasant, undemanding reading", but found the narrative voice — "a six-year-old girl with the prose style of a well-educated adult" — to be implausible.
Time magazine's review of the book states that it "teaches the reader an astonishing number of useful truths about little girls and about Southern life" and calls Scout Finch "the most appealing child since Carson McCullers' 'Frankie' in The Member of the Wedding (1946).
The Chicago Sunday Tribune noted the even-handed approach to the narration of the novel's events, writing: "This is in no way a sociological novel. It underlines no cause ... To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel of strong contemporary national significance."
Flannery O'Connor wrote: "I think for a child's book it does all right. It's interesting that all the folks that are buying it don't know they're reading a child's book. Somebody ought to say what it is."
In popular culture
Since its 1960 publication, To Kill a Mockingbird has never been out of print and has sold more than 40 million copies.
It was voted the "Best Novel of the 20th century" by readers of Library Journal.
In 2006, a World Book Day poll conducted by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in England asked librarians the question, "Which book should every adult read before they die?" To Kill a Mockingbird was voted first, followed by the Bible and in third place, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
In 2020, the novel was number five on the list of "Top Check Outs of All Time" by the New York Public Library.
In her own words
"I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers, but at the same time I sort of hoped 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'd expected." -- Harper Lee
Harper Lee famously shunned publicity. In 1964, she talked with host Roy Newquist for an interview aired on the New York Times-owned WQXR radio station. According to WQXR, the interview is the only known recording of Lee discussing To Kill a Mockingbird and one of the last interviews she would ever give.
(Photo at left. Truman Capote's photo portrait of Harper Lee from the back cover of the first-edition dust jacket for To Kill a Mockingbird.)
The 1962 film adaptation
The 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, from Horton Foote's 129-page screenplay, garnered Gregory Peck the Academy Award for his portrayal of Atticus Finch.
Harper Lee, in liner notes written for the film's DVD re-release by Universal, wrote:
"When I learned that Gregory Peck would play Atticus Finch in the film production of To Kill a Mockingbird, I was of course delighted: here was a fine actor who had made great films – what more could a writer ask for? ...The years told me his secret. When he played Atticus Finch, he had played himself, and time has told all of us something more: when he played himself, he touched the world."
Photo above: Gregory Peck and Brock Peters (as Tom Robinson) in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Peters, who once sang background vocals on Harry Belafonte's 1956 hit "Day-O", delivered the eulogy at Gregory Peck's funeral in 2003, saying, "Atticus Finch gave him an opportunity to play himself" and concluding with "To my friend Gregory Peck, to my friend Atticus Finch, vaya con Dios".
Peters remained friends not only with Peck but with Mary Badham, who portrayed Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, throughout his life.
In 2012, Badham attended a screening of To Kill a Mockingbird with President Barack Obama at the White House to mark the 50th anniversary of its release.
On the 50th anniversary
National Public Radio published a story in July 2010 marking the 50th anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird.
"The story of Scout's initiation and maturing is the story of finding out who you are in the world," says author Mary McDonagh Murphy. "And at the same time, the novel is about finding out who we are as a country." Murphy's book, Scout, Atticus & Boo (2010) is based on interviews about Lee's novel with well-known writers, journalists, historians and artists. Listen below.
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