Though ‘s wasn’t released until midnight, eager readers were watching the clock as they waited for pre-ordered copies or added their names to waiting lists at local libraries.
In , people already are asking if it’s that Atticus Finch, the Southern lawyer-crusader who brilliantly defended a wrongly accused black man in published in 1960, is a racist.
And just a few hours before “Watchman” went on sale, there was an about .
While there were no midnight-release parties, as there were for , there’s enormous interest in the closely guarded “Watchman.” The Alamo Draft House in Littleton showed on Monday night, and customers who take their ticket stubs to stores on Tuesday can get a 20 percent discount on the book.
“There’s a lot of buzz around the fact that is portrayed differently,” says English professor Jill Adams, who teaches at Metro State University. She is a lifelong Harper Lee fan, and named her daughter, age 6, after the author.
“A lot of people are upset about this change they didn’t see coming in . But it’s hard to judge something if you haven’t read it yet. I think there will be more conversations about the character of Atticus and the complexity of who he is, and maybe we can transfer some of that discussion into what’s going on with race in our world today.”
The Denver Public Library will have 252 copies of “Watchman,” including large type, regular type, e-books, audio books and 11 Spanish translations. The waiting lists for those books range from 153 names (audio books) to 727 (hardback).
The Douglas County libraries have long waiting lists, too — 405 people signed up for one of 160 hardbacks, 79 readers are on the list for large type, and 59 listeners are waiting to hear the audio book.
The Tattered Cover has ordered cases of “Watchman,” says staffer Heather Duncan. All remained boxed until midnight. So will the copies of “Watchman” at the Boulder Book Store, which has 144 copies, including 26 pre-ordered books.
“I think this book is going to force people to reread ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and realize that things can be deeper than they usually appear,” Adams said.
Nobody really thought about how it would be different when told from the viewpoint of a 30-something-year-old returning to her hometown, she said. “But that change is something that many of us (who are) that age, or older, experience when we go home and we see our parents with adult eyes.”
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin
