The real reason To Kill A Mockingbird became so famous

In this episode of Overrated, Vox's Phil Edwards investigates the largely unheralded business reason behind the success of Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird."

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is a literary classic, but it was also a landmark book in the paperback revolution. Thanks to publishers like Penguin Books, paperbacks changed dramatically from pulp fiction and dime store novels to a a legitimate way to read great literature.

To Kill A Mockinbird's timing helped it capitalize upon that business shift and become a classic in classrooms — for business reasons as well as literary ones.

[nakenmil]

Didn't Vox do kind of a similar video about the Mona Lisa, and how it only really became famous after it was stolen? Or am I thinking of another channel?

[adrianmbugua]

And I swore never to read again after 'To Kill a Mockingbird' gave me no useful advice on killing mockingbirds. It did teach me not to judge a man based on the color of his skin, but what good does that do me?

~Homer J Simpson

[TheMoggiemum]

Its studied in schools all around the world. I'm from UK and did it in secondary school. I think the themes of injustice, prejudice, loss of childhood innocence makes it good to do in school

[gisellehelaina]

It's a classic because it tells us something about our world. It is more than just a mere piece of fiction - it was published at a time when the civil rights movement was gaining momentum and exposes the prejudices that occurred in America - written through the eyes of a child the non sensical, ridiculous notion of racism is slammed by Harper Lee. That's why it's a classic. Because it's always the books that mean something which last. Look at pride and prejudice, tess of the d'urbervilles, gatsby, great expectations to name but a few. They've all survived the test of time because they actually comment on societies attitudes. That's why I love literature - not because it's a paper back print!

[KimonoSuki]

I never read this book in school but I read it on my own for fun. Made me cry and question life. Great book, y'all should read it if you haven't already.

[Monisirfan]

I read it once in 9th grade, and then taught it to a 9th grade English class

[Johnjwalt]

You've described why Mockingbird was so very successful, but not why it was overrated. It wasn't overrated. It was a masterpiece.

[zcgujge]

I love you, Vox, but what I am about to lay on you hurts me to say. But I felt I had to say it.

You are reaching here. This is very pseudo.

So this video is titled "The Real Reason To Kill A Mockingbird Became So Famous, " while the video itself is an episode in a series called "Overrated, " while the point of the video is book "sales." So is Mockingbird an oversold book, an overrated book, or an overly famous book? Are they all the same to you? I think your editorial confusion is showing. Do you even know what your point is?

Let's not forget, just because you happened to read a book six times because you changed schools a lot doesn't mean your teachers thought the book was six times better than the other books that you happened to read once and/or that weren't assigned to you at all. I get that this is meant to be tongue-in-cheek but that doesn't mean it isn't confused logic.

Letting alone for now the concept of "better" here cannot yield a definition able to withstand scrutiny, and letting alone 6 / 0 is undefined %, not 600%, there is something tragically wrong with this video.

Arguing that the advent of the paperback - cheaper manufacture and easier distribution - served as the invisible hand that drove Mockingbird to classrooms is the same as saying "B happened after A, so B happened because A." In other words, the economy surrounding the book is irrelevant to and dismissive of the fact that Mockingbird (by some measure) was a good book to begin with. By the way, you do mention Gatsby. Well, overrated? (I think Yes, but that's a whole 'nother posting) What about all the other paperbacks schools assigned around that time?

By the logic of the video, one could only make the case that Mockingbird received more sales than it otherwise would have. But calling a book overrated would seem to point to its quality as a piece of writing, wouldn't it? And you cannot call Mockingbird overrated unless you are willing to equate a book's sales with its literary quality. Are we ready to go down that road of, say, calling 50 Shades of Grey an amazing work of literature?

Maybe you were just clickbaiting; maybe this was a pardonable sin, justifiable in the court of Youtube productions. But you are actually selling this as investigative journalism - it pains me to say - the Vox brand.

As such this video is sloppy journalism at best and, at worst, an unwarranted attack on one of the greatest moral tales ever told. Not to mention a huge disservice to scientific inquiry.

[ericli]

I don't follow the logic: To Kill A Mocking Bird is overrated because it was a paperback? Because it was published at a time when paperbacks were making its way into schools? What's the logical connection? Penguin has been publishing literary classics like the Odyssey since 1946. Why is 1961 so significant a year? TKAMB's status as a great piece of literature has nothing to do with its first being published as a paperback. It's initial sales number may have, but not its status today.

[cabotjasper]

I dont think this video has a compelling arguement. Paperbacks were cheap and becoming popular, but this doesn't even explain why Lee's book became famous and iconic in the wave of paperbacks that were printed. Why the book remains on university reading lists, it's numerous awards, or the continued devotion of readers to her work. The video essay completely ignores these factors.

[ceresdwarf]

what do you get when you mix alcohol and literature? Tequila Mockingbird.

[chuckfatherofrock]

Read To Kill a Mockingbird in freshman year, still my favorite book

[flamingamo]

I fully support you doing more of these. Wasn't Gatsby famous because it was one of the books the USO gave to servicemen in WW2?

[drink]

Never read it. My book in school was animal farm.

[darraghclarke]

To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favourite novels ever.

[lucyk]

I believe To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most moving, perfect books ever written. It takes you back to this chaotic time and shows you the world through an innocent child's eyes. It deserves every accolade that has ever been given it and more.

[RoTenken]

Do Kim Kardashian. How did she become such an Icon?

[threadthathasnoend]

To Kill a Mockingbird was my favorite book that was assigned in grade school because it didn't follow the same life sucks-brief glimmer of hope-life sucks again narrative almost all the other books we read like where the red fern grows, the great Gatsby, the scarlet letter etc.

[RhyHello]

I used to think every book considered "great" was really really good. Then I read Great Expectations by Dickens. I've never hated any piece of writing more, not even my bills.

[jenkarat]

I don't think it's overrated