Hmm.....I wanted more of out of this book. I have been sitting on my review for several days, trying to figure out my thoughts. Only I still don't know what to make of them.

I adore To Kill a Mockingbird and Atticus Finch. Gregory Peck absolutely epitomizes the lawyer! So I loved highlights and such from the making of the movie. And I enjoyed learning more about Harper Lee and her friendship with Truman Capote. But as to everything else......it just got LONG. And bordered on redundant to me. ( )

I recently re-read To Kill A Mockingbird. The classic novel is one of 100 books chosen for The Great American Read. I remembered loving the book when I read it in high school and again in college. I think I liked it even more re-reading it as a middle-aged adult.

Tom Santpietro's book delves into the impact that the novel and the 1962 film version have had, touching on whether the book is racist and how it relates to the current culture in America. I loved this in-depth look at one of my favorite classic books (and classic film). I liked how the author pinpointed why this book is still relevant today. I didn't necessarily agree with all of his points and the discussion of whether this book is racist went on a little too long in my opinion. But, I thought it was a thoughtful and well-researched look into the novel and the impact it had on American, and global, culture.

Reading this book has given me the strength to finally read the copy of Go Set a Watchman that has been sitting on my TBR shelf since it's publication. I haven't been able to gather up the courage to read it since I know it changes the story somewhat (Atticus is racist and other major changes), and because I felt it might have been exploitation of the author to publish what is basically her first unpublished version of the story. I think I'm ready to brave it now.....and then spend some time thinking about how I feel about it.

This is the first book by Tom Santopietro that I have read. He's written several other books about films and culture including The Godfather Effect, Considering Doris Day, The Sound of Music Story, and The Importance of Being Barbra. I'm definitely going to read more of his books. This one was incredibly thought provoking for me and I enjoy how he relates literature and film to our culture.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St. Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

While reading this, just over a month after processing more or less the same information in Joseph Crespino's Atticus FInch: The Biography, I was mentally preparing a five star review which would promote Tom Santopiero's more centred and comprehensive study of the novel and film over Crespino's edgy cross examination of Atticus Finch. On finishing the final few (slightly repetitive) chapters, however, I've decided that both recent takes on Harper Lee's eternal classic are about on a level, but approach the same task - writing about the history of the novel and the film adaptation - from different angles. Overall, I would say I prefer this detailed dedication to Crespino's potted social history of civil rights wrapped in a token biography/critique, simply because Santopietro seems to care more about the novel and sticks closer to the subject matter that readers really care about.

I learned some new facts about the film, or perhaps the same facts repackaged in some cases - Santopietro acknowledges that Gregory Peck wanted to make Atticus the main character, instead of focusing on the children, but rather than make the late actor sound like an egomaniac like Crespino does, he suggests that Peck actually saved the film by giving Alan Pakula and Robert Mulligan the final authority, rather than Universal, the distributor. Harper Lee, Gregory Peck, Pakula and Mulligan owned the film, which is why the adaptation retained such dignity. There are also some touching quotes from the cast and crew, including Mary Badham and Philip Alford who stayed in touch with Peck throughout their lives, which were probably taken from other sources but still make this a lighter, more satisfying tribute to book and film. There is only so much that can be said about a film that is nearly 60 years old, after all, which might explain why a couple of the chapters seem a bit repetitive, but this is overall a very informative and respectful account.

Watchman of course rears its ugly head, as does 'news' of the most recent stage adaptation, but Santopietro seems more suitably interested in the enduring appeal of the far more nuanced, Pulitzer Prize winning original novel than its opportunistic, derivative bastard half-sibling, as any true fan of Harper Lee would hope. I also took away two other reading suggestions - You Can't Go Home Again by Tom Wolfe and Broken by Daniel Clay - which is my highest accolade for non-fiction, and bought a copy of Elmer Bernstein's original score, so I can say that I was genuinely captivated by Tom Santopietro's ode to the original novel. Definitely worthy of a place on my Mockingbird bookshelf, even if I have read the same story before. ( )

Santopietro provides a thorough look at Harper Lee’s most famous work. He starts out with Ms. Lee herself, with a childhood that closely resembled Scout’s and follows that with the publication and resultant exaltations. Then the story shifts to the film with insightful biographies of the cast and crew. This will be a sublime read for book lovers.

Free review copy. ( )