Friday, April 28, 2006

Happy Birthday, Harper Lee


Harper Lee is, of course, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorite books. Here are a few amazing facts about it from The Writer's Almanac: Today, To Kill a Mockingbird sells about a million copies every year, and it's sold over thirty million copies since its publication. In 1963, just three years after its publication, it was taught in eight percent of U.S. public middle schools and high schools, and today that figure is closer to eighty percent. Only Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Huckleberry Finn are read by more high school students.

3 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

I recently read To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time. My wife had been after me for a long time to read this book and my misperceptions about what the book was kept me from ever picking it up. It was so important to her that for her recent birthday I bought her the nice 40th anniversary hardcover and read it before giving it to her. She was thrilled and I was too because it was a wonderful story. Can't believe I was such a dolt about this. Very well done. Its a shame she didn't write any more novels.

Unknown said...

I guess what with selling a million copies a year, Harper Lee never felt the urge to write another book. I'd sure like to read it if she did, though.

Carl V. Anderson said...

True...plus with the critical acclaim and fan love this book engenders she was almost doomed to fail with the second book as it would always be compared to Mockingbird.