A Peek Under the Covers: The Mockingbird Next Door Cover Change.

Next Thursday, September 4, 7 pm, we're hosting Marja Mills, author of The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee, at Boswell. The book has been out for a few months, and has gotten very nice reviews and a recommendation from Boswellian Anne McMahon, who called it "A delightful look in to the life of one of America's notable authors. No startling revelations here, but an insight in to the world that remained private so long. I really enjoyed it!"

The book has stirred up a smidge of controversy (what book hasn't? Did I mention we're hosting Rick Perlstein author of The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan , on November 6 at the Golda Meir Library?) as Nelle, that's Harper Lee to those who don't follow these things, made a statement that she did not endorse the book and was, well, tricked into participating it. This statement contradicted a 2011 statement that seemed to indicate support. 

Because we stocked up on The Mockingbird Next Door in anticipation of the event, we got a surprise when the new books came. The cloth jacket changed color, from burnt orange to mustard yellow. While McSweeney's has been known to change jacket colors with printings, with striking effect, as said books are often paper over board, it is far less usual for a cloth jacket to change color when it is covered by a dust jacket. Our thought is that both colors match the tone of the photo on the dust jacket, better than we've seen on other books. So what led to the big switcheroo? My guess? They went to another printer and they didn't have the first color in stock.