Digital copy of The Mockingbird Parables for FREE (& a WARNING to its readers!)
Just finished work on my upcoming book The Holy Nomad (September ’12) and was overjoyed to hear that Tyndale Publishers is currently giving the digital version of my first book, The Mockingbird Parables, away for free! I would love for you to check it out: http://t.co/8Kl7iSWQ . But before you sit down to read, I think it is important to understand that it is NOT a “Gospel According to To Kill a Mockingbird.” I never claim to speak for Harper Lee or to know her...
Friday’s Five Good Answers: Your Questions (for me) about To Kill a Mockingbird and The Mockingbird Parables
As my journey discussing America’s favorite novel comes to a close over the next few weeks, I thought it would be fitting to repost this “Friday’s Five Good Answers” (from April) featuring your questions for me about Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, and my book, The Mockingbird Parables. Thank you again for the wonderful questions! I hope you will enjoy my candid answers and that it will shed light on why I set out to write about the characters and themes...
Mockingbird Monday: Lee’s Novel Reminds us that Courage is a choice
On Memorial Daywe take moments to celebratethose people who have demonstrated tremendous acts of self-sacrifice and courage. In honorof the national holiday I thought it would be good to focus on “The Parable of AtticusFinch” and meditate onthe realities ofhow courage really happens: “At this point in the novel, with the Tom Robinson trial on the horizon and the Finch family facing the fury of the town, it is reassuring to know that Atticus can handle a gun....
is generous giving the key to a fulfilling life of faith?
Donald Miller begins his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years with some clever (but poignant) lines about story. He tells a brieftale about a guy who works all the time to save up for a car.With a humorous delivery, he explains that no one really wants to read abook or watch a movie about a man who works hard with the goal of purchasing an expensive car; it is not the least bit inspiring or noble. It makes me laugh to think that Jesus might have called a fisherman or two there...
Mockingbird Monday – The Story Behind The Mockingbird Parables
Many authors and agents have expressed to me that I went through more drama getting my first book published than I will probably experience in my entire writing career. It is an interesting story which I began writing about last week — you can get caught up on last week’s blog here: http://mattlitton.com/2011/05/09/mockingbird-monday-the-story-behind-the-mockingbird-parables/. I hope it will provide some encouragement for inspiring writers, maybe some entertainment...
An Interview with Charles J. Shields, Author of New York Times Bestseller – Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee
Charles J. Shields’s masterful biography, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, was a New York Times Bestseller during the summer of 2006 and is currently in its 8th printing. Shields spent years researching and writing the biography of Harper Lee. He is a former English teacher who taught To Kill a Mockingbird for a number of years and later became a writer of nonfiction books for young people. For Mockingbird, he interviewed over 600 of Harper Lee’s neighbors, childhood...
To Kill a Mockingbird Reminds Us That Compassion Holds the Key to Change (Huffington Post)
From political campaigns to prime-time television, our collective desire for change is given lip-service in almost every area of American life. We long for lasting change and cheer it on when we get a glimpse of it: from elections, to Wall Street reforms, to transformations of the biggest loser we yearn to believe it can happen. It is sadly apparent, however, as we surf the Web, watch the news, or read the paper that we are missing the mark — very little has changed in significant...
A CNN Religion Op-Ed on Spiritual Lessons from Lee’s Novel & News about a special interview this Friday with the author of bestselling books – Mockingbird and I Am Scout
Fans of To Kill a Mockingbird will not want to miss the special guest on this coming Friday’s edition of “Five Good Answers.” Best-selling author Charles Shields,who wrote biographies of Harper Lee – Mockingbird and I Am Scout, was kind enough to spend some time answering questions here onthe blog. He talks alittle about To Kill a Mockingbird, his opinions of Harper Lee, and his wonderful new biography of Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Shields is a skilled and thoughtful...
Mockingbird Monday – Boo Radley and the Potency of Questions
“The more we told Dill about the Radleys, the more he wanted to know, the longer he would stand hugging the light-pole on the corner, the more he would wonder. ‘Wonder what he does in there,’ he would murmur. ‘Looks like he’d just stick his head out the door…’” “Wonder what he looks like?” said Dill (Chapter 1). I was speaking at my alma mater recently. I met my wife on campus there – so visiting is quite nostalgic. It makes...
Mockingbird Monday: What To Kill a Mockingbird Can Teach us about Political Correctness
When Atticus comes face-to-face with the political, religious, and social demon of racism, he does not mince his words. In a conversation with his brother Jack, he calls it “Maycomb’s usual disease”; and when he is forced to confront it at the trial of the black man falsely accused of rape and assault, he calmly and evenly delivers the truth of the accusers’ guilt to the jury: he notes that Mayella, a white woman, has kissed a black man—something that...
Mockingbird Monday: The good Reverend Sykes & what it means to care for our neighbors
Maudie laments that most church people “are so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one…” she continues, “you can look down the street and see the results.” We find a beautiful answer to her commentary later in the book though. One of my favorite scenes in any story takes place when Scout and Jem visit the First Purchase Church in chapter twelve of Harper Lee’s novel. Not only is it one of the most moving...
Mockingbird Monday: A visit to the missionary tea – can compassion begin with confession?
Harper Lee’s harshest criticism of Christian church practice can be found in the missionary tea meeting in chapter 24 of To Kill a Mockingbird. It is the candid scene where the town women gather in the Finchhome to discuss the work of a missionary (J. Grimes Everett) and the recent events of the Robinson trial. The women in this living roompersonify the racism and bigotry they have adopted as part of their religious practice. It can be dangerous when people of faithtake...
Mockingbird Monday: Are Maudie and her flowers really going to hell?
I know it is still February, but the brief onset of warm weather and rain has things budding (maybe prematurely) here in Ohio and it has me thinking of springtime. I am looking forward to warmer temperatures, things turning green again, and being outside. I thought it would be appropriate to talk about Miss Maudie and her flowers today. This is an excerpt from “The Parable of Miss Maudie’s Azaleas”, which focuses on our attitude toward creation and what it means...
Mockingbird Monday: Speaking for Harper Lee? What We Know About Mockingbird, Faith and Atticus’ Guiding Principles.
I wrote this article for the CNN faith blog about To Kill a Mockingbird and what it has to teach us about faith: http://bit.ly/hojmHy . The response was great, although much of the commentary was agitation that I would tie To Kill a Mockingbird and morality to Christianity (or any faith tradition, for that matter). I have taken great pains (out of respect to Harper Lee) tomake it clearthat The Mockingbird Parables does not speak for the author of TKaM; rather, communicates how...
