Amid all the hoopla for Lee's winning the Pulitzer Prize was gossip that her friend Truman Capote had actually written the book for her. According to Moates, there was also a rumor that one Monroeville family threatened to sue the author because the book's heroic, reclusive Boo Radley too closely resembled someone in their family. Moates, who attended some of the social events honoring Lee's early celebrity, observes: "When [Lee] had enough, she reminded people that her book was fiction, zipped her lips shut, and caught the next plane back to New York."
Lee's lips have stayed shut, for the most part, since the mid-1960s. A fairly reclusive author, Lee was initially surprised by reader reaction to her book. Since To Kill a Mockingbird's publication, she has given few interviews and, for all intents and purposes, seems to have "faded from view." Lee's sister Alice--an attorney practicing in Monroeville--filled in some gaps when she told Authors and Artists for Young Adults that her sister currently divides her time between New York City and Monroeville. Neither Lee sister, however, cares to discuss the novel written more than thirty years ago because they consider it "old news."
To Kill a Mockingbird: Lee's Claim to Fame
Whatever the reasons behind for Lee's failure to publish another book, To Kill a Mockingbird remains very popular with young adult readers; it is also a frequent selection in high school and college English classes.
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