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MOCKINGBIRD SONGS
BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.
240 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2017
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About the author
Wayne Flynt
38 books26 followersJames Wayne Flynt is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Auburn University. He has won numerous teaching awards and been a Distinguished University Professor for many years. His research focuses on Southern culture, Alabama politics, Southern religion, education reform, and poverty. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Online Encyclopedia of Alabama.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
September 3, 2017
4.5 Stars
Wayne Flint offers a glimpse into the private Harper Lee through his “Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship With Harper Lee.” When I first heard about this I had no interest in reading some exposé of Harper Lee. And then I saw it in my library, and decided to see, or really just take a peek in case it turned out to be some sordid tell-all. The last book “about” her that I read was “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee” by Marja Mills, which was surrounded by much controversy, and left me conflicted.
I have to say that so much of this felt so natural and genuine that I’d find it hard to believe that any of this is untrue. At the same time, it shows what a lovely, giving, and thoughtful woman she was, and the same should be said of her family, as well, as Flint was introduced to Nelle Harper Lee through her sister, Louise, who knew him.
What I really loved about this was the letters sent back and forth the old-fashioned way, involving at least two postal-delivery-people and handwritten letters and postage. These were lovely, including the ones from him and / or his wife to and from Nelle and Alice Lee. I smiled when I saw her reference to Gilda Radner “(‘It’s always somep’n’)”in a letter. I loved how this slowly unveiled the private, but trusting, woman. I loved how generous of spirit these letters showed her to be, in the everyday way of life. And while she, like all of us, continued to get older instead of younger, she maintained the ability to see the beautiful in those every day moments.
”Dear Wayne:
The only thing I have to report is that Tom Carruthers said he couldn’t recall the word ‘ineluctable,’ which I used to describe the passing of days here. He said he hadn’t heard it in so long he couldn’t remember it.
Well, the days do go by with ineluctable sameness, but I feel most fortunate that they go by for me at all, lorn lone creature that I am.”
Wayne Flynt is an Alabama Historian, and author of “Poor but Proud: Alabama’s Poor Whites” and “Alabama in the Twentieth Century,” as well as this autobiography-biography-memoir.
Wayne Flint offers a glimpse into the private Harper Lee through his “Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship With Harper Lee.” When I first heard about this I had no interest in reading some exposé of Harper Lee. And then I saw it in my library, and decided to see, or really just take a peek in case it turned out to be some sordid tell-all. The last book “about” her that I read was “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee” by Marja Mills, which was surrounded by much controversy, and left me conflicted.
I have to say that so much of this felt so natural and genuine that I’d find it hard to believe that any of this is untrue. At the same time, it shows what a lovely, giving, and thoughtful woman she was, and the same should be said of her family, as well, as Flint was introduced to Nelle Harper Lee through her sister, Louise, who knew him.
What I really loved about this was the letters sent back and forth the old-fashioned way, involving at least two postal-delivery-people and handwritten letters and postage. These were lovely, including the ones from him and / or his wife to and from Nelle and Alice Lee. I smiled when I saw her reference to Gilda Radner “(‘It’s always somep’n’)”in a letter. I loved how this slowly unveiled the private, but trusting, woman. I loved how generous of spirit these letters showed her to be, in the everyday way of life. And while she, like all of us, continued to get older instead of younger, she maintained the ability to see the beautiful in those every day moments.
”Dear Wayne:
The only thing I have to report is that Tom Carruthers said he couldn’t recall the word ‘ineluctable,’ which I used to describe the passing of days here. He said he hadn’t heard it in so long he couldn’t remember it.
Well, the days do go by with ineluctable sameness, but I feel most fortunate that they go by for me at all, lorn lone creature that I am.”
Wayne Flynt is an Alabama Historian, and author of “Poor but Proud: Alabama’s Poor Whites” and “Alabama in the Twentieth Century,” as well as this autobiography-biography-memoir.
May 21, 2017
I picked this up at the library, but was sceptical. I thought it might be someone else trying to cash in on Harper Lee's life and death. I was very wrong. This collection of letters is presented by a respected author and professor of history who enjoyed a 25 year correspondence with Lee and her sisters, Louise and Alice. He and his wife were friends first with her older, married sister, Louise, then later met Nelle and became close to her as well.
These letters respect the privacy that she valued so much, and only re-inforce what we already know, but in her own words. What a funny, sensitive, sharp lady she was. I enjoyed these letters very much, and learned more about her family and the town of Monroeville. The author begins each chapter with an overview of what was going on in his and in Nelle's life at the time the letters were exchanged.
This was a nice addition to my understanding of this reclusive author.
These letters respect the privacy that she valued so much, and only re-inforce what we already know, but in her own words. What a funny, sensitive, sharp lady she was. I enjoyed these letters very much, and learned more about her family and the town of Monroeville. The author begins each chapter with an overview of what was going on in his and in Nelle's life at the time the letters were exchanged.
This was a nice addition to my understanding of this reclusive author.
May 29, 2017
Mockingbird Songs: Morning Has Broken
It does not surprise me that Alabama Historian Wayne Flynt would be among Belle Harper Lee's circle of friends. Flynt is the author of Poor but Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites and Alabama in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for documenting life in Alabama during the Great Depression which happens to be the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Flynt's entry to the Lee family did not begin with the beloved author, but her sister Louise Connor, who lived in Eufaula, Alabama.
More to follow...
It does not surprise me that Alabama Historian Wayne Flynt would be among Belle Harper Lee's circle of friends. Flynt is the author of Poor but Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites and Alabama in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for documenting life in Alabama during the Great Depression which happens to be the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Flynt's entry to the Lee family did not begin with the beloved author, but her sister Louise Connor, who lived in Eufaula, Alabama.
More to follow...
March 30, 2020
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorites, so when I saw this collection of letters, I knew I had to read it.
Wayne Flynt, Auburn University history professor, chronicles his friendship with the Lee family through the letters he exchanged with Alice, Louise, and Nelle Harper Lee.
At a time when Harper Lee was being recognized more and more but wanted to be in the spotlight less and less, Flynt would be her voice and often championed for her privacy and personal space.
Flynt was an Alabama historian and in a way became a To Kill a Mockingbird historian as well, becoming so close to Nelle Harper Lee that he delivered the eulogy at her funeral.
To Kill a Mockingbird rings true to the human experience; it is not just a story of a fictional Maycomb, Alabama. Many universal ideas are present in Mockingbird such as racial justice, class disparity, differences/tolerance, and community which are taught to Jem and Scout by their father Atticus as well as students everywhere who read Ms. Lee's masterpiece. In addition, there are many moral values imbedded in To Kill a Mockingbird: tolerance, kindness, civility, charity, justice, courage to face down wrongs, and compassion to love others despite their flaws. These are lessons that all can apply to life today.
Finally, Atticus's humanity still has truth today: "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
Wayne Flynt, Auburn University history professor, chronicles his friendship with the Lee family through the letters he exchanged with Alice, Louise, and Nelle Harper Lee.
At a time when Harper Lee was being recognized more and more but wanted to be in the spotlight less and less, Flynt would be her voice and often championed for her privacy and personal space.
Flynt was an Alabama historian and in a way became a To Kill a Mockingbird historian as well, becoming so close to Nelle Harper Lee that he delivered the eulogy at her funeral.
To Kill a Mockingbird rings true to the human experience; it is not just a story of a fictional Maycomb, Alabama. Many universal ideas are present in Mockingbird such as racial justice, class disparity, differences/tolerance, and community which are taught to Jem and Scout by their father Atticus as well as students everywhere who read Ms. Lee's masterpiece. In addition, there are many moral values imbedded in To Kill a Mockingbird: tolerance, kindness, civility, charity, justice, courage to face down wrongs, and compassion to love others despite their flaws. These are lessons that all can apply to life today.
Finally, Atticus's humanity still has truth today: "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
October 24, 2018
If you could have dinner with any historical figure who would it be? For me it's Ms Lee. She could talk (or not) about anything at all, and I would be captivated. Mockingbird Songs is probably as close as I will ever get to fulfilling that daydream.
Ms Lee's attorney approved the publication of the letters in Mockingbird Songs, and I sincerely hope Ms Lee would have as well. Mockingbird Songs doesn't try to aggrandize itself, unlike The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee (my review). The letters between Wayne Flynt, Alice Lee, and Nelle Harper Lee are mostly about little everyday things, and as time passes, they radiate genuine affection and friendship.
You might also enjoy:
✱ The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
✱ The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
✱ Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty
Ms Lee's attorney approved the publication of the letters in Mockingbird Songs, and I sincerely hope Ms Lee would have as well. Mockingbird Songs doesn't try to aggrandize itself, unlike The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee (my review). The letters between Wayne Flynt, Alice Lee, and Nelle Harper Lee are mostly about little everyday things, and as time passes, they radiate genuine affection and friendship.
You might also enjoy:
✱ The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
✱ The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
✱ Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty
October 21, 2017
Harper Lee, a very private person preferred letter writing as her only communication.
Letters to and fro from Harper to Wayne Flynt as fellow writer and to her older sister Alice.
In the South they held great importance to belonging to the Baptists or the Methodists.
Her letters were insightful, stories and humor. They lasted for a quarter of a century .
A very interesting book.
Letters to and fro from Harper to Wayne Flynt as fellow writer and to her older sister Alice.
In the South they held great importance to belonging to the Baptists or the Methodists.
Her letters were insightful, stories and humor. They lasted for a quarter of a century .
A very interesting book.
July 10, 2019
Back when we all used to write letters, I wrote my share and then some, and I received plenty in return. I recall one special day near the end of summer just before my senior year in high school when I got seven letters in the mail from seven different girls. Hot dog!
And then the Internet and email came along, and it seems my ability to express myself in writing began to dwindle, atrophying to the point where now I haven't written a letter in years. And that's too bad, I suppose. But like many people, I have held onto the letters I received, bundling them up with rubber bands in old shoe boxes down on the shelves in the basement. I assume many of my letters are likewise stored away in other people's basements.
Fortunately none of these people are famous, and nobody else in the whole wide world could give two good goddams about my correspondence with them. And therein lies a certain blessing: I will never suffer the ethical and moral conundrum of whether or not I could or should publish these private letters. Heck, I'm really not even that interested in their contents myself. The truth of the matter is that these letters are probably really, really boring. The only reason I keep them is out of some weird and misguided hoarderish impulse.
So here's Wayne Flynt, professor of history at the University of Auburn. Through his relationship with Louise Lee Conner, he becomes acquainted with her younger sister, world-famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, with whom he exchanges letters in the early '90s. A decade later they begin a pleasant correspondence which lasted until just before Lee's death in 2016. Over the course of the correspondence, barriers are lowered and a comfortable closeness of sorts is gradually established. Flynt and Lee write about friends and family, as well as Alabama history and its politics, and both the weather and physical ailments are frequent topics of conversation. Pleasantries are exchanged; Roy Moore is scorned; arrangements for visits and whatnot are planned, and thus it goes for about twenty years...which is pretty much what one might expect from the private letters of most human beings. In fact, reading Harper Lee's letters, some times I was reminded of my grandmother's letters that always accompanied the birthday cards she sent me each year.
And while nobody in their right mind would want to read a collection of my grandmother's letters, as these were the letters of Harper Lee, world-famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird, well, Wayne Flynt had a real conundrum on his hands. He knew quite well how much Harper Lee valued her privacy. He knew her feelings about biographies and biographers, and he especially knew this because in his letters to her he had floated the idea of compiling an oral history with her (and if she didn't want to do the conversations with him, he suggested she might record them with a nephew or other family member), an oral history that would not be published until after her death, he assured her. However, each time he mentions the oral history project in a letter, her silence in response to him is deafening. She doesn't even address his suggestions of an oral history in her responses. So Flynt has to know from her reticence that she really wouldn't be at all interested in having Flynt print their private correspondence either.
But still, think of it! Harper Lee! And every now and then, in those letters amidst her pleasantries and complaints about failing eyesight, she drops in a biographical nugget or two or tosses off an observation about Truman Capote or savages the despicable Charles Shields for that biography of her he had the nerve to publish. How could anyone resist the temptation of printing these letters to share with the whole wide world?
Well, poor Wayne Flynt...such a dilemma. Ultimately he decided to share those letters with the world, and I'm going to give him four stars for his less-than-noble behavior, just like I did for Marja Mills and her even more egregious abuse of Harper Lee's privacy in The Mockingbird Next Door. Mills' book is far more interesting as far as giving the rest of us Nosey Parkers a sneak peek into Harper Lee's world. Most of these letters Flynt provides us with would be as boring as those letters from my grandmother, if they hadn't been written by Harper Lee. But still, if you are a Harper Lee fan, you should read them. You won't gain a lot of insight into the author, but Flynt provides a context for the letters and gives us his observations of his interactions with her. And just like with Marja Mills's book, this is a lot more than we knew about the author without the book.
Lee is dead. I get it. (In fact one of the more interesting sections of the book is the eulogy that Flynt wrote and read at Lee’s funeral, per her request.) And some folks might say I am being a little hard on old Wayne Flynt, this Alabama historian with a direct pipeline to one of Alabama's most precious resources unrelated to football. But just think about it...we really don't need these letters; Harper Lee most likely would not have approved of their publication; and the friendship established with this elderly woman near the end of her life ultimately should have dictated a different course of action on the part of Flynt. Maybe I'm just being naive, but he might have donated the letters to the University of Alabama's special collections after his death instead of publishing them in a book that Lee wouldn't not have approved of while he was still alive.
So, yeah, there is something a little cheap and tawdry about this book, knowing what we know about Harper Lee. The Browns must have a tremendous collection of Lee's letters. Thomas Butts must have corresponded with her over the years. Marcia Van Meter must have letters that would be fascinating to the world. And yet none of these confidantes of Harper Lee have published her letters to them.
I’m not going to claim this is a sin on the part of Wayne Flynt. It’s nothing like the sick cash grab perpetrated against Lee by her lawyer and agent who sprang her rough draft Go Set a Watchman on the public after Lee has been satisfied for decades letting it moulder in a safety deposit box. (Near the end of his book Flynt describes Lee’s response to the release of GSAW, and he does a nice job capturing her ambivalent response to its publication.) And as I said, there is nothing as egregious in Flynt’s behavior here as in what Marja Mills did to the elderly Lee sisters. However, a part of me thinks Flynt should have left those letters in whatever shoebox he had stored them in and been content with the simple correspondence he had been blessed by through his friendship with this remarkable old woman.
Here's my disdainful review rejecting the publication of Watchman:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And here’s my prurient response to Mills’ book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And then the Internet and email came along, and it seems my ability to express myself in writing began to dwindle, atrophying to the point where now I haven't written a letter in years. And that's too bad, I suppose. But like many people, I have held onto the letters I received, bundling them up with rubber bands in old shoe boxes down on the shelves in the basement. I assume many of my letters are likewise stored away in other people's basements.
Fortunately none of these people are famous, and nobody else in the whole wide world could give two good goddams about my correspondence with them. And therein lies a certain blessing: I will never suffer the ethical and moral conundrum of whether or not I could or should publish these private letters. Heck, I'm really not even that interested in their contents myself. The truth of the matter is that these letters are probably really, really boring. The only reason I keep them is out of some weird and misguided hoarderish impulse.
So here's Wayne Flynt, professor of history at the University of Auburn. Through his relationship with Louise Lee Conner, he becomes acquainted with her younger sister, world-famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, with whom he exchanges letters in the early '90s. A decade later they begin a pleasant correspondence which lasted until just before Lee's death in 2016. Over the course of the correspondence, barriers are lowered and a comfortable closeness of sorts is gradually established. Flynt and Lee write about friends and family, as well as Alabama history and its politics, and both the weather and physical ailments are frequent topics of conversation. Pleasantries are exchanged; Roy Moore is scorned; arrangements for visits and whatnot are planned, and thus it goes for about twenty years...which is pretty much what one might expect from the private letters of most human beings. In fact, reading Harper Lee's letters, some times I was reminded of my grandmother's letters that always accompanied the birthday cards she sent me each year.
And while nobody in their right mind would want to read a collection of my grandmother's letters, as these were the letters of Harper Lee, world-famous author of To Kill a Mockingbird, well, Wayne Flynt had a real conundrum on his hands. He knew quite well how much Harper Lee valued her privacy. He knew her feelings about biographies and biographers, and he especially knew this because in his letters to her he had floated the idea of compiling an oral history with her (and if she didn't want to do the conversations with him, he suggested she might record them with a nephew or other family member), an oral history that would not be published until after her death, he assured her. However, each time he mentions the oral history project in a letter, her silence in response to him is deafening. She doesn't even address his suggestions of an oral history in her responses. So Flynt has to know from her reticence that she really wouldn't be at all interested in having Flynt print their private correspondence either.
But still, think of it! Harper Lee! And every now and then, in those letters amidst her pleasantries and complaints about failing eyesight, she drops in a biographical nugget or two or tosses off an observation about Truman Capote or savages the despicable Charles Shields for that biography of her he had the nerve to publish. How could anyone resist the temptation of printing these letters to share with the whole wide world?
Well, poor Wayne Flynt...such a dilemma. Ultimately he decided to share those letters with the world, and I'm going to give him four stars for his less-than-noble behavior, just like I did for Marja Mills and her even more egregious abuse of Harper Lee's privacy in The Mockingbird Next Door. Mills' book is far more interesting as far as giving the rest of us Nosey Parkers a sneak peek into Harper Lee's world. Most of these letters Flynt provides us with would be as boring as those letters from my grandmother, if they hadn't been written by Harper Lee. But still, if you are a Harper Lee fan, you should read them. You won't gain a lot of insight into the author, but Flynt provides a context for the letters and gives us his observations of his interactions with her. And just like with Marja Mills's book, this is a lot more than we knew about the author without the book.
Lee is dead. I get it. (In fact one of the more interesting sections of the book is the eulogy that Flynt wrote and read at Lee’s funeral, per her request.) And some folks might say I am being a little hard on old Wayne Flynt, this Alabama historian with a direct pipeline to one of Alabama's most precious resources unrelated to football. But just think about it...we really don't need these letters; Harper Lee most likely would not have approved of their publication; and the friendship established with this elderly woman near the end of her life ultimately should have dictated a different course of action on the part of Flynt. Maybe I'm just being naive, but he might have donated the letters to the University of Alabama's special collections after his death instead of publishing them in a book that Lee wouldn't not have approved of while he was still alive.
So, yeah, there is something a little cheap and tawdry about this book, knowing what we know about Harper Lee. The Browns must have a tremendous collection of Lee's letters. Thomas Butts must have corresponded with her over the years. Marcia Van Meter must have letters that would be fascinating to the world. And yet none of these confidantes of Harper Lee have published her letters to them.
I’m not going to claim this is a sin on the part of Wayne Flynt. It’s nothing like the sick cash grab perpetrated against Lee by her lawyer and agent who sprang her rough draft Go Set a Watchman on the public after Lee has been satisfied for decades letting it moulder in a safety deposit box. (Near the end of his book Flynt describes Lee’s response to the release of GSAW, and he does a nice job capturing her ambivalent response to its publication.) And as I said, there is nothing as egregious in Flynt’s behavior here as in what Marja Mills did to the elderly Lee sisters. However, a part of me thinks Flynt should have left those letters in whatever shoebox he had stored them in and been content with the simple correspondence he had been blessed by through his friendship with this remarkable old woman.
Here's my disdainful review rejecting the publication of Watchman:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And here’s my prurient response to Mills’ book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
September 20, 2017
Loved this look at the relationship between Harper Lee and the author, Wayne Flynt. Mr. Flynt is professor emeritus in the department of history at Auburn University, and one of the most recognized and honored scholars of Southern history, politics, and religion. He and his wife were friends with Louise Lee before meeting Harper Lee and ended up being close friends with all 3 sisters - sharing the same feelings toward politics and history of the South. The book is shows a side of Harper Lee that is funny and witty, and the author shares the many letters written between the two. He includes the eulogy he wrote and shared at Harper Lee's funeral.
December 30, 2017
Excellent! What better way to become better acquainted with Harper Lee than to read the letters she wrote to a dear and trusted friend. Thank you Wayne Flynt.
September 6, 2023
TKAM is one of my favorite books of all time. Harper Lee was a true renegade. The moral courage in writing this piece, at that time, in the Deep South was incredibly brave. Now that’s a hero! We named our pup Harper Lee 5 years ago.
June 9, 2017
Four or five stars? Whatever's up there, I really liked this book.
Wayne Flynt is a retired history professor at Auburn whose primary academic interest was Alabama history of the Depression. He (and his wife) started out as a friend to Harper and Alice Lee’s sister Louise. He had a thirty year friendship with the Lees, which we primarily see in the letters they wrote to each other, he even delivering Harper Lee’s eulogy.
Notes: She absolutely wanted Go Set a Watchman published. She wasn’t coerced, enriching her lawyer, or anything else. Further, she hated the Charles J. Shields biography of her. She came to like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of her former friend in Capote, but she also wrote the director a letter correcting inaccuracies in the film. I’m glad I read this. Thank you kindly, Mr. Flynt. I borrowed this from my public library, because I read pretty much every book about Harper Lee, and/ or To Kill a Mockingbird.
Wayne Flynt is a retired history professor at Auburn whose primary academic interest was Alabama history of the Depression. He (and his wife) started out as a friend to Harper and Alice Lee’s sister Louise. He had a thirty year friendship with the Lees, which we primarily see in the letters they wrote to each other, he even delivering Harper Lee’s eulogy.
Notes: She absolutely wanted Go Set a Watchman published. She wasn’t coerced, enriching her lawyer, or anything else. Further, she hated the Charles J. Shields biography of her. She came to like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal of her former friend in Capote, but she also wrote the director a letter correcting inaccuracies in the film. I’m glad I read this. Thank you kindly, Mr. Flynt. I borrowed this from my public library, because I read pretty much every book about Harper Lee, and/ or To Kill a Mockingbird.
July 17, 2017
I love epistolary works and this one gave me a glimpse into the soul, wit, and personality of an author that I love. It was even better than I hoped. I both listened to and read this one and loved every minute of it. I feel despair over the loss of letter writing in our society and this bolstered my desire to make certain that I write at least five letters a week to do my part to see that it doesn't completely die in my lifetime. Nell Harper Lee is a fascinating soul and she shines through in these letters.
Two priceless quotes from Ms. Lee:
"I get so impatient with historians especially who have an agenda. Who can't just give us the facts without trying to persuade us of something."
"Don't get me started on the ignorance of people with access to instant information."
Two priceless quotes from Ms. Lee:
"I get so impatient with historians especially who have an agenda. Who can't just give us the facts without trying to persuade us of something."
"Don't get me started on the ignorance of people with access to instant information."
May 5, 2017
Loved, loved, loved it! To start, I must admit that "To Kill A Mockingbird" and Ms. Lee have a special place in my soul. Thus, I was biased going into the read. Through a sharing of letters written between the author, Harper Lee and her sisters, the author helps the reader gain a lovely picture of the a bit more of the person who was Harper (Nell) Lee. It finishes with the author's eulogy to Lee via a description of "To Kill A Mockingbird" and its' place in the lives of so many. My only unhappiness is that the book ended too soon. I have always considered Ms. Lee a special friend and hated to say "good-bye" to someone who I now know at least a little better. (I might add that I began by listening to the audio-version and, then, read the print version. Hearing the exchange added a great deal.)
July 19, 2017
Again, too much Wayne Flynt -a history professor who befriended Harper Lee late in her life. Terribly boring & repetitive letters providing very little insight or interest in even its Alabama setting. Some fun in Harper Lee's letters. Some interest in "seeing" her two sisters -- all three living to their very late 90s & 100. Worth reading just to discover that she adored NYCity, had an apartment there & probably spent most of her life there. Hooray, Nelle! (Harper is her middle name) These letters are from a period in her life when she was fading & spent a lot of time back home in Monroeville
October 19, 2021
It gave "some" insight into Harper Lee's Personal Life. Though every letter to Dr. Flynt either ended or began with praising him, and thanking him. Now, I understand they were really close and good friends, but did every letter really begin with how much she admired him or did he pick certain letters that stroked his ego?
Even though this book was suppose to be about Harper Lee and Dr. Flynts friendship, it had a lot about Flynts accomplishments and letters not even pertaining to Harper. Near the end he started corresponding to Alice (Harper's sister) about his new book. How does that relate to your friendship with Harper Lee? Sounds like self promoting of you ask me.
Even though this book was suppose to be about Harper Lee and Dr. Flynts friendship, it had a lot about Flynts accomplishments and letters not even pertaining to Harper. Near the end he started corresponding to Alice (Harper's sister) about his new book. How does that relate to your friendship with Harper Lee? Sounds like self promoting of you ask me.
June 28, 2017
The only reason I gave this book 4 stars is because I wanted MORE of it. A very selfish reason. To read that Nelle Harper Lee loved antiquarian bookstores, all things British and C.S. Lewis, made me wonder if my connection to To Kill a Mockingbird went deeper . . . for we sure do (did) share similar interests. And to read that she was TOTALLY IN HER RIGHT MIND about publishing Go Set a Watchman, made me take a deep breath. I really would have loved to know this woman.
May 22, 2017
Too much Flynt, not enough spark
May 5, 2017
At first blush Wayne Flynt's Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship with Harper Lee is a lovely--albeit seemingly random--assemblage of select letters written between an incredibly private Southern writer (Lee) and a respected retired professor of Southern history (Flynt). The letters span the years 1992-2016, are a bit of a hodgepodge, and while the author claims the publication's goal is to allow Lee to tell her own side of things in a minimally invasive albeit posthumous fashion, that claim rings a little hollow in retrospect.
I don't mean to imply that Flynt took advantage of Lee in any way, just that it often felt a bit "off." He explains that Nelle's (Harper was her middle name, and the family all called her Nelle) attorney approved publication of her letters, but it's really tough to get beyond the irony of honoring an intensely private person by publishing selections from their late-in-life personal correspondence.
Flynt is careful to distinguish Lee's opinion from his own, on those rare occasions when he understood a particular circumstance differently than she did. He is also careful to reserve judgment on her recently rediscovered (and published) manuscript. That second fact only contributes to the book's slight hinky-factor.
Mockingbird Songs . . . may motivate you to reread To Kill a Mockingbird (or TKAM as it is referred to throughout the correspondence), it may well make readers long for a definitive bio of Harper Lee (apparently none such exists), but in the spirit of Fair Warning: if such a biography appears authored by Flynt and this slim volume comes to be seen as some sort of audition for same, then that slightly "off" feeling is going to take a decidedly less charitable turn. (And if I'm being unfair here, Prof. Flynt, I do apologize. But you've got to admit that it all seems just a bit too convenient.)
In closing, I won this uncorrected proof of the book as a Firstreads giveaway. It suffered from the absence of the photos that appear in the final version of the book. All told, I'm happy to have read it, and had altogether forgotten her Truman Capote connection, so that was a welcome reminder.
I don't mean to imply that Flynt took advantage of Lee in any way, just that it often felt a bit "off." He explains that Nelle's (Harper was her middle name, and the family all called her Nelle) attorney approved publication of her letters, but it's really tough to get beyond the irony of honoring an intensely private person by publishing selections from their late-in-life personal correspondence.
Flynt is careful to distinguish Lee's opinion from his own, on those rare occasions when he understood a particular circumstance differently than she did. He is also careful to reserve judgment on her recently rediscovered (and published) manuscript. That second fact only contributes to the book's slight hinky-factor.
Mockingbird Songs . . . may motivate you to reread To Kill a Mockingbird (or TKAM as it is referred to throughout the correspondence), it may well make readers long for a definitive bio of Harper Lee (apparently none such exists), but in the spirit of Fair Warning: if such a biography appears authored by Flynt and this slim volume comes to be seen as some sort of audition for same, then that slightly "off" feeling is going to take a decidedly less charitable turn. (And if I'm being unfair here, Prof. Flynt, I do apologize. But you've got to admit that it all seems just a bit too convenient.)
In closing, I won this uncorrected proof of the book as a Firstreads giveaway. It suffered from the absence of the photos that appear in the final version of the book. All told, I'm happy to have read it, and had altogether forgotten her Truman Capote connection, so that was a welcome reminder.
September 16, 2018
A short book covering the friendship of Auburn historian extraordinaire, Wayne Flynt, (and his wife) with Harper Lee and her sisters during the last 25 years or so of Harper Lee's life. About half of the book is description & background; the other half is the actual letters of Dr. Flynt and Harper Lee, with occasional ones from Mrs. Flynt and Harper Lee's older sister. One gets a picture of Monroeville & certainly of Lee's last years but not really of her life as a whole. One of the most interesting things to me was to read about Lee's friendship with storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham.
P.S. The mockingbird in the full page illustration at the beginning of the book does not look like the mockingbirds I see everyday.
P.S. The mockingbird in the full page illustration at the beginning of the book does not look like the mockingbirds I see everyday.
March 14, 2021
This finishes up my little Harper Lee focus of the week. I reread To Kill a Mockingbird, then read To Set A Watchman, and finished up with these book of letters between Wayne Flynt and Harper Lee and her sisters. It was really interesting to read about Ms. Lee and her family and friendships after reading the 2 novels she wrote. It brought more light and depth to her novels actually. I am glad I read them.
I also find I am enjoying reading books of letters. This is my 2nd book of this type in 2021 and I am inclined to look for some more.
I also find I am enjoying reading books of letters. This is my 2nd book of this type in 2021 and I am inclined to look for some more.
January 11, 2023
TKAM has been a favorite of mine since my 10th grade communications class. And for some reason, I feel very protective to Harper Lee. She wrote a masterpiece and then wanted to live in peace. So any time I read a book purported to be written by a friend of hers, I am suspect. However, the Flynts seem to be true friends, motivated only by the want to share the Nelle they knew and loved with the world. Interesting little book sharing her letters with the world.
November 26, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I think I like books of letters. They make me want to go write letters myself. This book also made me want to hear Dr Flynt again. I definitely didn't appreciate him as a college freshman.
August 18, 2017
Love, love, love this book! As a person who typically struggles to get in to biographies and some memoirs, I was entranced with this more in depth look to the fiercely private author's life. It was a little slow to get in to (about the first 75 pages), but such depth, feeling, and life lessons were conveyed in this book. Highly recommend!
August 12, 2017
The other day I was at my local nursery and asked the sales person, whose name was Atticus if his parents were To Kill A Mockingbird Fans. Of course, he said yes. Just more fuel to my personal fire that this novel was hugely important to literature as well as us common folk. Anyway, I wanted to read this book to learn more about the mysterious Harper Lee. I can't say I learned all that I would have liked to learn, but I did so enjoy the letters between Wayne Flynt and the Lee sisters. Sparked my interest in reading Mr. Flynt's work as well. I have a box of letters written to me and received by me before the modern age of email and texts. I treasure my own piece of history as much as Mr. Flynt treasures his correspondence with these interesting sisters. So sad the letter writing has become a lost art. Maybe this book will inspire some folks to bring it back.
August 11, 2017
Well written, this book gives insight into the real Nelle Harper Lee. Contains many of her letters over three decades of communication with the author, a well-known professor of history. Letters are great because they let us hear the "voice" of the author. She was one feisty lady, and I would have loved to have known her. Learned some new things that I hadn't heard before. Cleared up a few of the rumors out there as well. If you are Lee's fan, you will enjoy this book.
September 3, 2017
Mockingbird Songs My Friendship with Harper Lee by Wayne Flynt provides insights into Lee's life much in the same way as does TheMockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills.
Flynt's book is different for several reasons. To begin with, he and his wife were met Lee because they were friends with her older sister Louise. In addition, Flynt lived in Alabama and was a professor of history, so he was occasionally asked to speak in a program where Lee was also a speaker or where the program related to the significance of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Finally, he notes that he and his wife, Dartie, "were there for her at three critical junctures of her life: when her sister Louise slipped into dementia; when she herself suffered a stroke and, obsessed with maintaining her privacy, isolated herself at a rehabilitation facility; and when she was forced to give up her second home in New York City and live out the rest of her days in Monroeville, the town from which she had fled to freedom sixty-five years earlier" (2).
He is very clear that "Our friendship hinged on certain encounters, most of them face-to-face, and in between was lots of time and space--and letters" (2)
In addition to numerous letters between Lee and Flynt, the book contains the text of a speech he gave with she received a lifetime service award in 2006 and the eulogy he delivered at her funeral.
He identifies the truths in To Kill a Mockingbird as "racial injustice, class, differences, community, and the moral values of the novel.
He also describes a conversation he had with Lee about the publication of Go Set a Watchman in which she describes the book as her old novel and seems delighted that it attracts the interest and sales that it does.
Flynt's book is different for several reasons. To begin with, he and his wife were met Lee because they were friends with her older sister Louise. In addition, Flynt lived in Alabama and was a professor of history, so he was occasionally asked to speak in a program where Lee was also a speaker or where the program related to the significance of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Finally, he notes that he and his wife, Dartie, "were there for her at three critical junctures of her life: when her sister Louise slipped into dementia; when she herself suffered a stroke and, obsessed with maintaining her privacy, isolated herself at a rehabilitation facility; and when she was forced to give up her second home in New York City and live out the rest of her days in Monroeville, the town from which she had fled to freedom sixty-five years earlier" (2).
He is very clear that "Our friendship hinged on certain encounters, most of them face-to-face, and in between was lots of time and space--and letters" (2)
In addition to numerous letters between Lee and Flynt, the book contains the text of a speech he gave with she received a lifetime service award in 2006 and the eulogy he delivered at her funeral.
He identifies the truths in To Kill a Mockingbird as "racial injustice, class, differences, community, and the moral values of the novel.
He also describes a conversation he had with Lee about the publication of Go Set a Watchman in which she describes the book as her old novel and seems delighted that it attracts the interest and sales that it does.
May 9, 2017
An unconventional "biography," Wayne Flynt's book is a collection of his personal correspondence with Harper Lee over 25+ years. It's such a treat to have access to more of Lee's writings (and the wit and wisdom that she deploys in her letters should hopefully put to rest any silly conspiracy theories about who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. It also makes a case that she wanted Go Set a Watchman to be published). This book doesn't offer a comprehensive look at her life, with the bulk of the book taking place in the last years of her life, but does offer a look into who she was and what made her tick. It also contains the full text of Flynt's eulogy for Lee, which includes an excellent passage about why TKAM endures:
"The point is that what happened in Maycomb could have happened in Fort Payne, Albertville, Demopolis, Brewton, Fairhope, and all the places in between. What happened in Maycomb did happen everywhere. To Jews in Prague; to homosexuals in Berlin; to Gypsies in Romania, Pentecostals in Russia, Muslims in Serbia. It happened to Okies and Arkies in California's Imperial Valley in the 1930s, to Appalachian whites in Detroit in the 1940s, and to people from Birmingham moving to New York City and Los Angeles in the 1960s. It happened to all people everywhere who talk funny, look strange, have a different color skin, worship God differently or not at all, people who stay in houses and refuse to come out and conform to our expectations or allow us to stare at them. It happens to the different, the strange, the other. That is the reason the novel still sells nearly a million copies a year nearly half a century after publication: because it continues to ring true to human experience. That is why it is required reading in so many Irish, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Austrian, Dutch, Czech, and German schools, why it has been translated into some forty lanuages: because the story is a story of the human experience, not just the story of what happened in Maycomb, Alabama."
"The point is that what happened in Maycomb could have happened in Fort Payne, Albertville, Demopolis, Brewton, Fairhope, and all the places in between. What happened in Maycomb did happen everywhere. To Jews in Prague; to homosexuals in Berlin; to Gypsies in Romania, Pentecostals in Russia, Muslims in Serbia. It happened to Okies and Arkies in California's Imperial Valley in the 1930s, to Appalachian whites in Detroit in the 1940s, and to people from Birmingham moving to New York City and Los Angeles in the 1960s. It happened to all people everywhere who talk funny, look strange, have a different color skin, worship God differently or not at all, people who stay in houses and refuse to come out and conform to our expectations or allow us to stare at them. It happens to the different, the strange, the other. That is the reason the novel still sells nearly a million copies a year nearly half a century after publication: because it continues to ring true to human experience. That is why it is required reading in so many Irish, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Austrian, Dutch, Czech, and German schools, why it has been translated into some forty lanuages: because the story is a story of the human experience, not just the story of what happened in Maycomb, Alabama."
May 30, 2017
Professor and historian Wayne Flynt (Keeping the Faith) first met Nelle Harper Lee in 1983 when the press-shy author of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD spoke at an Alabama heritage festival. A friendly correspondence (with occasional visits) began in 1992 and continued until Lee's death in 2016.
MOCKINGBIRD SONGS collects both sides of their correspondence, and Flynt begins each chapter with succinct background information on the letters to follow. Lee may have avoided the spotlight, but her letters reveal a devilishly funny, well-informed and gracious participant in life. Far from being a recluse, Lee lived half of every year in the Manhattan apartment she bought in the 1960s. "She was not one to excuse misstatements of fact, suffer fools gladly, silently dismiss literary misquotations, or allow anyone to invade her space without invitation," Flynt writes. But, she was also "empathetic, warm, nonjudgmental and a wonderful conversationalist."
A stroke in 2007 slowed her down but didn't affect her faculties. Her letters have precision and punch. She recalls her complicated friendship with Truman Capote, stating, "I was his oldest friend and I did something Truman could not forgive: I wrote a novel that sold." She also delighted in the success of the 2015 publication of GO SET A WATCHMAN, her first draft of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, knowing that it presents a less romanticized version of Atticus Finch (and her father).
MOCKINGBIRD SONGS is a sliver of an epistolary biography, but it towers over dry and unauthorized bios of Harper Lee thanks to her strong, compelling and entertaining voice situated center stage.
Wayne Flynt's correspondence with Harper Lee from 1992 until her death in 2016 offers readers a tantalizing glimpse at the celebrated author's devilish wit and informed opinions.
MOCKINGBIRD SONGS collects both sides of their correspondence, and Flynt begins each chapter with succinct background information on the letters to follow. Lee may have avoided the spotlight, but her letters reveal a devilishly funny, well-informed and gracious participant in life. Far from being a recluse, Lee lived half of every year in the Manhattan apartment she bought in the 1960s. "She was not one to excuse misstatements of fact, suffer fools gladly, silently dismiss literary misquotations, or allow anyone to invade her space without invitation," Flynt writes. But, she was also "empathetic, warm, nonjudgmental and a wonderful conversationalist."
A stroke in 2007 slowed her down but didn't affect her faculties. Her letters have precision and punch. She recalls her complicated friendship with Truman Capote, stating, "I was his oldest friend and I did something Truman could not forgive: I wrote a novel that sold." She also delighted in the success of the 2015 publication of GO SET A WATCHMAN, her first draft of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, knowing that it presents a less romanticized version of Atticus Finch (and her father).
MOCKINGBIRD SONGS is a sliver of an epistolary biography, but it towers over dry and unauthorized bios of Harper Lee thanks to her strong, compelling and entertaining voice situated center stage.
Wayne Flynt's correspondence with Harper Lee from 1992 until her death in 2016 offers readers a tantalizing glimpse at the celebrated author's devilish wit and informed opinions.
May 4, 2017
Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship with Harper Lee by Wayne Flynt
HarperCollins: 5/2/17
eBook review copy; 240 pages
ISBN-13: 9780062660084
Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship with Harper Lee by Wayne Flynt is recommended for the future historical significance of his correspondence with the notoriously private Nelle Harper Lee.
This is a collection of letters Lee and Flynt sent to each other over the years, from 1992 to Lee's death in 2016. The letters show a side of Lee that few seldom saw and could be a valuable resource for future biographers.
Flynt opens up the organized sections of letters with comments about the letters that follow. There is a variety of subjects discussed and as you are reading them you can see the friendship between the two growing and maturing. The letters begin more formal and eventually become personal and intimate. There are a few feisty observations and comments from Lee that will be appreciated, along with her sense of humor and phrasing as the letter begin to exhibit more of her personality. It should be noted that Lee's attorney approved the publication of the letters.
The value of this collection is the insight it provides into Lee's life during her correspondence with Flynt. It does beg the question, though, how she would have felt about the publication of their personal correspondence. She was a very private person. One rarely writes to friends and expects that exchange to be published in the future. However there is a long history of letters of famous people being collected and published.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
HarperCollins: 5/2/17
eBook review copy; 240 pages
ISBN-13: 9780062660084
Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship with Harper Lee by Wayne Flynt is recommended for the future historical significance of his correspondence with the notoriously private Nelle Harper Lee.
This is a collection of letters Lee and Flynt sent to each other over the years, from 1992 to Lee's death in 2016. The letters show a side of Lee that few seldom saw and could be a valuable resource for future biographers.
Flynt opens up the organized sections of letters with comments about the letters that follow. There is a variety of subjects discussed and as you are reading them you can see the friendship between the two growing and maturing. The letters begin more formal and eventually become personal and intimate. There are a few feisty observations and comments from Lee that will be appreciated, along with her sense of humor and phrasing as the letter begin to exhibit more of her personality. It should be noted that Lee's attorney approved the publication of the letters.
The value of this collection is the insight it provides into Lee's life during her correspondence with Flynt. It does beg the question, though, how she would have felt about the publication of their personal correspondence. She was a very private person. One rarely writes to friends and expects that exchange to be published in the future. However there is a long history of letters of famous people being collected and published.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
July 22, 2017
A delightful read using letters and anecdotes to show how human beings can love one another in long-term friendships. A gentle reminder that Southerners are not all alike. A statement of hope that change is possible especially if a gifted author can capture serious problems in the plot of a bestseller novel. A testament of faith that truth will win out in the end.
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