News Corp. Head Gives Go Set a Watchman the Nod

The Telegraph reported it, but we’re not sure it’s news:

Robert Thomson, the head of News Corp., which owns Go Set a Watchman publisher HarperCollins, expects the novel to take the world by storm.

Maybe not the most unbiased reader that could be found?

It is probably bigger news that Barnes & Noble is planning a special event around Harper Lee’s debut novel, set for May 14. From The Wall Street Journal (another News Corp. vehicle, BTW):

… Barnes & Noble … said it will host a discussion of Ms. Lee’s debut novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” on May 14th at all of its 649 consumer stores nationwide. The novel, originally published in 1960, has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, according to HarperCollins Publishers. HarperCollins, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.

“Go Set a Watchman” is set in the 1950s during a period of civil rights unrest in Alabama and features Scout, a key character in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” as an adult. “Go Set a Watchman” ranked No. 8 on Barnes & Noble’s best-seller list Wednesday morning.

HarperCollins earlier said it will print 2 million copies of the new novel, depending on orders. Barnes & Noble apparently wants to make sure it gets its fair share of sales. In addition to the book discussion on May 14, the book retailer is hosting a related movie discussion at all its stores on June 18, followed by a read-a-thon of Ms. Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel on July 13.

January Magazine has previously written about Go Set a Watchman here and here and here.

Reese Witherspoon Will Narrate Harper Lee Novel

Actress Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Water For Elephants) will set her hand to narration for the first time for the audiobook edition of Harper Lee’s hotly anticipated second novel, Go Set a Watchman.

In a statement, Witherspoon said she is looking forward to the challenge. “As a Southerner, it is an honor and privilege to give voice to the Southern characters who inspired my childhood love of reading, Scout and Atticus Finch.”

Witherspoon was born in New Orleans and partly raised in Nashville. Her roles have included Southern characters, including roles in Sweet Home Alabama and an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.

January Magazine has previously written about Go Set a Watchman here and here.

Harper Lee’s New Cover Revealed

People magazine today revealed the cover of Harper Lee’s new novel, Go Set a Watchman. It is the author’s second novel, the first since the publication of her debut, To Kill a Mockingbird, in 1960. From People:

Publisher HarperCollins, planning for a hit, will print two million copies for the book's July 14 publication date, a spokeswoman tells PEOPLE. 

HarperCollins president Michael Morrison says the book jacket was meant to evoke Mockingbird's now-iconic look: "It draws on the style of the decade the book was written." 

You can see the full piece here. We’ve previously written about Go Set a Watchman here and here.

Harper Lee’s Controversial Second Novel

Her debut novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most beloved books in the English language. It sells in excess of three quarters of a million copies each year. And yesterday’s announcement that a second novel by Harper Lee would be published this coming summer nearly broke the Internet.

Go Set a Watchman will be published July 14. HarperCollins will come out of the gate with two million copies and we no longer have to wonder what the top selling book of 2015 will be.

Lee announced through her publisher that she wrote what will be her second published novel before the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. She said the book, “features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, persuaded me to write a novel from the point of view of the young Scout.”

The announcement, as well as the author’s quotes regarding publication of the book, came entirely through her publisher.

“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realized [the original book] had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”

Since Lee is now 88 and somewhat infirm, suspicions of foul play have been loud and pointed. “Be Suspicious of the New Harper Lee Novel,” a Jezebel headline advised.

Tonja Carter, Harper Lee’s attorney since Alice Lee retired at the age of 100, acknowledges that the author—who was left forgetful and nearly blind and deaf after a stroke in 2007—often doesn't understand the contracts that she signs. "Lee has a history of signing whatever's put in front of her, apparently sometimes with Carter's advice," Gawker reported last July. 

“The existence of ‘Go Set a Watchman’ was unknown until recently, and its discovery is an extraordinary gift,” said HarperCollins publisher Jonathan Burnham in a statement.
But was the gift willingly given?

But in an interview with Vulture, Lee’s editor, Hugh Van Dusen, asserts his confidence that all is as it should be.

Vulture: It’s easy to be skeptical about her willingness to publish a book that had been forgotten for 55 years.  

Van Dusen: You mean was she unwilling to have it published? No, no, no, no. We would never do that. She’s too valuable an author to fool around with that way. It would never happen. We wouldn’t dare do that.

Further, Van Dusen seemed confident that there would be no breaking news on the topic. “I don’t think anything there's going to be anything more revealing than what's in the press release,” he told Vulture.

Considering Lee’s reclusive reputation, her advanced age and just how venerated Mockingbird has been, it seems unlikely we will ever truly know if Lee had intended for this lost manuscript to be found and published.

What we do know: those of us who have loved To Kill a Mockingbird are going to enjoy seeing Lee’s vision of a fully grown Scout. And those of us who love books can rejoice, as well. Any time a book-related announcement can raise so much dust we are reassured that reading and book culture are alive and well.

Harper Lee in Fight for Mockingbird Rights

Sad to hear that 87-year-old Harper Lee is having to sue to regain control of the rights to her classic and only novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Reuters reports:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "To Kill A Mockingbird," Harper Lee, on Friday sued her literary agent, claiming he tricked her into assigning the copyright on her book to him.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan against Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of Lee's long-time agent, Eugene Winick, who had represented her for more than 40 years. When Winick became ill in 2002, Pinkus diverted several of Winick's clients to his own company, the lawsuit said.

To Kill A Mockingbird was published in 1960 and has sold over 30 million copies world wide.

Mockingbird Debate Continues

The debate around the removal of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from a Brampton, Ontario, high school earlier this summer washed not only over Toronto-area newspapers, but right here, onto January Magazine. The issues around the removal of To Kill a Mockingbird are more nuanced than they first appeared, as we witnessed under the weight of many carefully considered -- and a few heated -- comments to the piece we ran earlier this week.

The book has been removed from the school, but the battle is far from over, as explained today by The Toronto Star:

As the dust settles around the latest Mockingbird controversy -- in which a principal at a Brampton school removed the book from Grade 10 English curriculum in June after a parent objected to language in the novel -- another debate has emerged: Is there a better book to teach diverse, multiracial, multi-ethnic students in the GTA about race relations and anti-discrimination in 2009?

“It’s a great book, but how many great books, how many classics have been written over the past five decades that might do a better a job in dealing with these issues?” said George Elliott Clarke, a writer and English professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in African-Canadian literature.

And fair enough: if I were looking for a book to inform children about African-Canadian issues, well ... To Kill a Mockingbird would not be the place to look. But is that why high school students are assigned reading? As I said in a comment to that earlier post, choosing books for young people to read based on the lessons we can cram in is like giving them medicine. Or Brussels sprouts. It’s good for them? Oh stop! Reading is magic. That’s the lesson we need to teach.

To Kill a Mockingbird is slender and engaging. It’s a wonderful book, in many ways, but it’s not a complicated one. Even reluctant readers might find themselves discovering fiction in a way they hadn’t before.

So replace Harper Lee’s book. OK. But do it with something that will help illuminate the place in each child that might otherwise be left dark. The place where they discover that reading is not only about accomplishment, not simply about finishing the assignment, but about the same joy and enjoyment extracted from the other activities they undertake at their leisure. That’s the lesson -- the gift -- that they will carry through their lifetimes. What books will accomplish that?

Ontario High School Bans To Kill a Mockingbird

This item from The Toronto Star is just sad:

The classic literary novel To Kill a Mockingbird is being pulled from the Grade 10 English course at a Brampton high school after a parent complained about the use of a racial epithet in the book.

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which challenges racial injustice in America's Deep South, will be removed from curriculum at St. Edmund Campion Secondary School following a lone complaint from a parent whose child will be in Grade 10 this September.

Though I’d seen a couple of stage versions over the years and, of course, the movie, I didn’t get around to reading Harper Lee’s acclaimed novel until this year. It was worth the wait: To Kill a Mockingbird is a subtly stunning work of fiction. If you haven’t read the book, add it to your must read list. And if there’s a teenager in your life, perhaps buy a copy for him or her, if only to protest that idiot St. Edmund Campion Secondary School parent who would ban a contemporary masterwork through their own lack of intellect and understanding.

Mockingbird Beats The Bible

What are the 10 most inspirational books of all time? The Telegraph offers up a list that will surprise you. We won’t take the stuffing out of their piece by running their top ten here, but it doesn’t give much away to tell you that Harper Lee’s 1960 classic To Kill A Mockingbird was voted into the number one spot, handily beating out The Bible.

For me, the other big surprise was finding J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel Catcher in the Rye on the list. It’s not a book I’d describe as inspirational: at least, not the kind of inspiration that earns it a place on a list like this. However, it is certainly interesting that two books most notable for having been written by authors whose early works brought expectations that were never fulfilled made the list. And it seems possible that both Lee and Salinger suffered from the same nasty malaise: massive early success that led to impossible personal expectations. And the loss is ours.

But I’m getting off topic: The Telegraph’s 10 most inspirational books can be found here.