To Kill a Mockingbird

Starred review from September 4, 2006
Lee's beloved American classics makes its belated debut on audio (after briefly being available in the 1990s for the blind and libraries through Books on Tape) with the kind of classy packaging that may spoil listeners for all other audiobooks. The two CD slipcases housing the 11 discs not only feature art mirroring Mary Schuck's cover design but also offers helpful track listings for each disk. Many viewers of the 1962 movie adaptation believe that Lee was the film's narrator, but it was actually an unbilled Kim Stanley who read a mere six passages and left an indelible impression. Competing with Stanley's memory, Spacek forges her own path to a victorious reading. Spacek reads with a slight Southern lilt and quiet authority. Told entirely from the perspective of young Scout Finch, there's no need for Spacek to create individual voices for various characters but she still invests them all with emotion. Lee's Pulitzer Prize -winning 1960 novel, which quietly stands as one of the most powerful statements of the Civil Rights movement, has been superbly brought to audio. "Available as a Perennial paperback. (Aug.)" .

June 22, 2015
Originally scheduled for June, this impressive first novel was postponed when it was made the August selection of the Literary Guild. Miss Lee, who is a very accomplished writer, tells a story of two sensitive, intelligent children, living in a sleepy southern town where they observe hate and violence for the first time when a lynching almost takes place. Their experience teaches them to respect their fellow creatures. The book is set in the mid-1930's, but the theme, of course, is timeless. We urge booksellers to be sure to read this for themselves, lest they think it is simply another of the many first novels about the trials of adolescence. National advertising.

September 17, 2018
This thoughtfully crafted interpretation of Lee’s classic reintroduces readers to the Finch family: scrappy, outspoken Scout; her daring older brother, Jem; and Atticus, their defense attorney father and the book’s moral compass. Decades-old tensions ramp up in their small Southern town when Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white woman. Even the local recluse, Boo Radley, isn’t free from the repercussions of the trial. Fordham visually establishes the world of Maycomb County—with all its unspoken laws pertaining to race, class, and family—with a sure hand. What stands out, upon seeing Scout and her entourage of free-ranging children in all their ragtag physicality, is that a world of children exists alongside the adult world: equally complex, populated by rumors about “hot steams” (ghosts) and poisoned pecans, yet also wild with possibility. Fordham’s character drawings have an appropriate vintage look, and he chooses the right moments to slow down or pan out. The nighttime panoramas of the mysterious Radley residence are lovely and moody, and Fordham’s sun-dappled days, blue-gray evenings, and sepia courtroom scenes are dampened only by an off-the-shelf generic font. More loving remake than revelation, Fordham’s adaptation may be scrutinized by Lee’s fans, but does sufficient justice to her portrait of injustice. Full art in color not seen by PW. Agent: Andrew Nurnberg, Andrew Nurnberg Assoc.