I was never required to read this book, but I read it on my own in high school. On this date in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published. It was an immediate bestseller and even won a Pulitzer Prize. Here is what the author herself had to say about the critical acclaim she received.
“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.”
If you have never read book, I highly recommend it. The movie with Gregory Peck is pretty good, too.
For more info:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee
http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/harper-lees-novel-achievement-141052/
