Who was the real Atticus Finch? A prize-winning historian reveals the man behind the legend The publication of Go Set a Watchman in 2015 forever changed how we think about Atticus Finch. Once seen as a paragon of decency, he was reduced to a small-town racist. How are we to understand this transformation? In Atticus Finch, historian Joseph Crespino draws on exclusive sources Who was the real Atticus Finch? A prize-winning historian reveals the man behind the legend The public...
| Title | : | Atticus Finch: The Biography |
| Author | : | Joseph Crespino |
| Rating | : | |
| Genres | : | Biography |
| ISBN | : | 1541644948 |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 pages pages |
Atticus Finch: The Biography Reviews
3.5 All 20th c Southern history is uncomfortable for "enlightened" southerners. I refused to read Watchman because I loved Mockingbird so much, and this book reinforces that decision for me. This was a really thoughtfully written piece of popular history, divided roughly into thirds- ...
I make every effort to avoid overused phrases when I write which is the reason I thought I would never type the following: "I couldn't put this book down." In this instance, however, it's the God's honest truth. I started it at midnight last night and finished it at noon today; (I t...
Atticus Finch The Biography is a wonderful book that explains clearly how Harper Lee created an iconic American hero based on her father despite his racial prejudices. If you read Go Tell a Watchman, recognized it's validity, and wondered how to fully reconcile that version of Atticus ...- This is a terrific work. It's a combined biography of A.C. Lee and Nelle Harper Lee, history of Alabama in the late 19th-mid-20th C (with an emphasis on Monroeville and Monroe County), and cultural impact of the book and film (again, with an emphasis on its reception in Alabama). T...
Atticus Finch, so happy to add to the story, I really enjoyed this book. It's a history of character, maybe even a story of Harper Lee's father in that it portraits the way of the south at the time. This is what she saw and what she learned from her father. It also shows the car in whi...
Listen to my interview with Joseph Crespino about Atticus Finch: The Biography on Episode 38 of the Literary Atlanta podcast. ...
A.C. Lee, Harper Lee?s father, was a lawyer and newspaperman and the inspiration for Atticus Finch, her now legendary character in her two novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. This intelligent and perceptive biography explores not only A.C. Lee himself but is also an ...
I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. To Kill a Mockingbird has been my favorite book of all time since the first time I read it, my sophomore year in high school. When I was a junior, I wrote an end-of-term paper about the book and its themes. I did a large amount...
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Joseph Crespino, Perseus Books, and Basic Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. The name Atticus Finch was long synonymous with kindness and compassion, show...
The background on one of America's most iconic characters drew me to this book. I appreciated Crespino's research into AC Lee life, his upbringing, and work life both as an attorney and newspaper editor. AC Lee is the inspiration for Atticus. I now have a new understanding of "Go S...
I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. From the publisher --- Who was the real Atticus Finch? The publication of Go Set a Watchman in 2015 forever changed how we think about Atticus Finch. Once seen as a paragon of dec...
Crespino deftly parallels the character of Atticus Finch with Harper Lee's father in this study of a man and his times. In her first novel, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee could not convince the publishing world of the juxtaposition of a people who believed in segregation but despised th...
Excellent! Excellent! Readable and not boring! This is a must if you love Nelle Harper Lee?s writings. This book touches on a lot including Go Set a Watchman, To Kill a Mockingbird, the making of the movie, Lee?s personal life and racial tensions. This was really good! Come on my s...- I won this book in a GoodReads Giveaway. The background details of the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman were very interesting. The book is a blend of history, biography, and social commentary which I found fascinating. ...
Using previously ignored sources, as well as countless additional resources, Joseph Crespino has produced a beautifully nuanced examination of the man that inspired Harper Lee's iconic Atticus Finch character, her father, A.C. Lee. Understanding Harper Lee's dual view of her father's p...
The title is somewhat misleading; this is not a novel about the life of Atticus Finch. Rather, it?s an intriguing and well-thought literary history of this character. It?s also, but only in part, a biography of Harper Lee?s father, Amasa Coleman (A.C.) Lee, a model for Atticus. I...
I was excited to read this one, being from the south myself, and it being written by a southern writer ABOUT a southern writer. And, I did find it enlightening and informative of Atticus and his inspirational doppelgänger AC Lee, Harper Lee?s father. I gave it 4 stars because it is ...
In this biography/history book, author Joseph Crespino looks at the life of Harper Lee?s father, A. C. Lee, and tries to answer the question: Why was Atticus Finch, the fictional character based on her father, like a genuine Southern man in the first novel she wrote, a fabled man in ...
totally translates into trumpet notations-- ...
The Man Behind Harper Lee?s ?To Kill a Mockingbird? This is the inspirational story of Atticus Finch, the father of author Harper Lee. Her celebrated work, ?To Kill a Mockingbird? narrates her life while growing up in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama and the racial pr...
Beautifully written, well researched and a breath of fresh air. If you have read both To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, I would highly recommend this. It shows us who the real Atticus Finch was and the relationships between Harper Lee and her father, A.C Lee. It truly explai...
I didn?t want to read this book; born and raised in Alabama I?m tired of thinking about it. But, this author grabbed my attention, as well as broke my heart, by showing me brutal, vicious, mob punishments inflicted by Christian Bible Belt white men against the mild sins of some bla...
Atticus was a man if his time. Hollywood made him into a saint. The real Atticus, Harper?s father, was more moderate than his KKK neighbors, but hardly Gregory Peck?s character. Interesting insights to AC Lee and Harper Lee?s relationship, and the racist politics of Alabama. ...
A very useful contextualization, with reference to Harper Lee's own life, her father, and the historical circumstances, of the character of Atticus Finch as depicted in both "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Go Set A Watchman". The book goes some way to elucidating the complicated question ...
It has been some time since I have loved a book the way I love this deep, analytical analysis of one of the most well-loved characters in American literature. Crespino answers the questions readers struggled with after the release of Go Set a Watchman, namely: How could a man seen as a...
A truly fascinating journey through the segregation era south and the personal journey of Harper Lee as she created the iconic American literary character of Atticus Finch. Tracing from historical events and a good deal of biographical information about her own father A.C. Lee, the boo...
This was a fascinating look at Harper Lee's creation and evolution of Atticus Finch. I'd already read a biography of Lee, so the first half with its description of her personal influences, mostly her father, was not as interesting to me. But the book really got good as it described how...
Interesting read. Much to learn about Harper Lee's father. Lots of cross referencing between TKaM and GSaW that added to the analysis. Crespino does a great job tying the novel and the movie culturally to the rise of Wallace in Alabama and national politics as well as Dr. King 's Lette...
Very well researched, beautifully written, and nuanced look at the creation of one of the most beloved literary characters of all time. ...
Harper Lee?s TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is one of the most influential novels of the 20th century. Countless young adults, coming of age when it was published in 1960, chose to become attorneys because of the character of Atticus Finch, portrayed by Gregory Peck in the movie based on Lee?...
