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Why To Kill a Mockingbird Matters
Why To Kill a Mockingbird Matters: What Harper Lee's Book and America's Iconic Film Mean to Us Today | Tom Santopietro
13 posts | 5 read | 7 to read
Tom Santopietro, an author well-known for his writing about American popular culture, delves into the heart of the beloved classic and shows readers why To Kill a Mockingbird matters more today than ever before. With 40 million copies sold, To Kill a Mockingbirds poignant but clear eyed examination of human nature has cemented its status as a global classic. Tom Santopietro's new book, Why To Kill a Mockingbird Matters, takes a 360 degree look at the Mockingbird phenomenon both on page and screen. Santopietro traces the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird, the impact of the Pulitzer Prize, and investigates the claims that Lees book is actually racist. Here for the first time is the full behind the scenes story regarding the creation of the 1962 film, one which entered the American consciousness in a way that few other films ever have. From the earliest casting sessions to the Oscars and the 50th Anniversary screening at the White House, Santopietro examines exactly what makes the movie and Gregory Pecks unforgettable performance as Atticus Finch so captivating. As Americans yearn for hope and an end to divisiveness, there is no better time to look at the significance of Harper Lee's book, the film, and all that came after.
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kspenmoll
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LeahBergen Happy Birthday! 📚📚📚 6y
kspenmoll Thank you so much! Went to a book talk at Mark Twain House in Hartford -Stephanie Land about her book Maid. Was wonderful. Was with a friend & had my first Litten meet up 6y
57 likes2 comments
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kspenmoll
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kspenmoll
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#WinterStormReadathon #TKAM #civilrights #1960s
This book. Excited by how much I am learning about the history of the movie, the politics, cultural events, scouting for the right actors/actresses,how & why Peck got involved, the story inside the set.

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kspenmoll
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MrBook Great quote! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
kspenmoll @MrBook Learning so much reading this book! 📚❤️ 6y
63 likes2 comments
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kspenmoll
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#WinterStormRradathon#coffeeabdbooks #TKAM
I have not figured out yet whether I am a cockeyed photographer or if it is just that my house is constantly shifting.
Dark & stormy early morning. Listening to the plink plink of sleet as it falls.
Digging yet deeper into the world of TKAM.

kspenmoll Does reading & interacting with Litsy for an hour count in #winterstormreadathon?!!! @BookBabe @MrBook (edited) 6y
CareBear I don‘t love sleet, but I do love the sound of it as I read. Almost like a white noise machine lol. 6y
kspenmoll @CareBear Great analogy; white noise! 6y
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kspenmoll
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BookishMarginalia Hi! Please check your email from last week with your #CupidGoesPostal match and reply to it so I know you‘re all set! (It might be in the junk mail.) 6y
70 likes1 comment
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kspenmoll
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73 likes1 stack add
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Lcsmcat
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Mehso-so

The dust jacket should have warned me - this spends more time with the film than the book. I also agree with a previous reviewer that he never really answers the title question. Perhaps it should be titled “The Cult of Atticus?” If you enjoy books about the making of a movie, you will enjoy this. If “gimlet-eyed” is your favorite expression, you will love this book. Otherwise, it‘s too repetitive and shallow to live up to its title.

Lcsmcat @Samplergal @ephemeralwaltz Consider yourselves warned? It won‘t ruin Mockingbird for you, but it won‘t enhance your experience. 6y
GingerAntics "Gimlet-eyed"? I never considered that a word before. For the love of all that's holy. This may have to come off my TBR. 6y
Lcsmcat @GingerAntics It jumped out at me because he used it at least three times, maybe four, in a 238 page book, and also because I read the book in one day. Maybe if I‘d read it more slowly the repetitions would‘ve bothered me less. (edited) 6y
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GingerAntics What is it? It just sounds weird. 6y
ephemeralwaltz Hmm :// thanks so much for sharing!! I'll pass on this one. 6y
Lcsmcat @GingerAntics “an eye with a piercing stare.” He seems to have a few words that he likes a lot and works in whenever possible. His talk on Mockingbird at a book festival (where I got the book signed) was much more enjoyable than the book. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 6y
GingerAntics Maybe I'll hold out for a talk then. 6y
59 likes7 comments
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Lcsmcat
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Having just reread Mockingbird, and read Go Set a Watchman for the first time, I‘m ready to dive in to this one.

Samplergal Keep us posted on your thoughts. I‘m terribly worried it will ruin my love of the book. 6y
Lcsmcat @Samplergal Will do. 😀 6y
ephemeralwaltz I'm interested in your thoughts as well! 6y
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Lcsmcat
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Last #BookmarksNC post. At least for tonight. 😀 I went a little crazy, but in my defense, some of these are presents. (Hence two copies of he tagged book.) NC Littens who didn‘t make it this year, I hope you can next year. It was loads of fun. Look for us on the next episode of Bookwatch on UNC-TV too.

AmyG I loved Fruit of The Drunken Tree. Great haul. (edited) 6y
Reviewsbylola What a great haul! A few of those are on my TBR. 6y
Lcsmcat @AmyG I was sorry not to get to hear her speak, but it conflicted with another that I really wanted to hear. 6y
merelybookish Literary Trails of North Carolina! Fun!! 6y
Lcsmcat @merelybookish They had Piedmont and Mountain volumes too, so if we enjoy it we may pick those up later. 6y
66 likes5 comments
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sixminutesforme
Mehso-so

Personally, I felt like I was left at the end of this still unsure of what the author‘s central thesis was (why does TKAM matter?), however it did raise a lot of interesting questions. The chapter looking at whether TKAM is racist is probably the best example of this, and I think it would make an excellent book club choice for that reason. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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CherylAnn
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Pickpick

Fascinating biography of a book, it‘s relevant characters and all that surround it, inception, publishing, movie making, subsequent reactions on into the publishing of Go Set A Watchman. All in easy read entertainment. Bravo!

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CherylAnn
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Pickpick

One chapter into this biography of a book and can commiserate the relevance to today‘s torrid climate of isms and how, as a noted Faulkner quote, “the past is not dead. It‘s not even past.” Insightful, informative and very entertaining. Still, it‘s sad that it resonates so profusely so many, many years after it first struck a cord. It, indeed, still matters.