Like much of America, Oprah Winfrey is a big To Kill a Mockingbird fan, so she's gotten into the hype surrounding the book's belated sequel, Go Set a Watchman . The talk show host-turned-media tycoon recently penned an article for The Guardian , and in it she discusses what Lee's still wildly popular first book meant to her and why nothing came of her bid to get the reclusive author on her show when it was still on the air.
Years ago, after going back and forth with Lee's agent, Oprah was able to get a lunch meeting with the author, which she used to make her pitch. Unfortunately, Lee didn't bite. "She said to me, 'You know the character Boo Radley? Well, if you know Boo, then you understand why I wouldn’t be doing an interview. Because I am really Boo,'" writes Oprah.
At that point, she saw the writing on the wall. "'I knew we were not going to bring Boo Radley out to sit on the Oprah show," adds Oprah in the article. Since Boo really only seemed to leave the house — spoiler alert (although, really, I don't see how you could get through high school without reading To Kill a Mockingbird) — to save the day, it's clear why Lee would opt out of being interviewed on the highest-rated talk show in American TV history. Oprah understood and didn't try her powers of persuasion, explaining, "In the end, I was glad she didn’t do it, that she was able to hold on to that for herself."
In spite of that friendly lunch, Oprah is still stuck waiting for Watchman's release, just like the rest of us. (Maybe she's even reading the recently-released first chapter online right now.) According a The New York Post report, she requested an early copy from the book's publisher, HarperCollins, but wasn't able to get one. Mockingbird's sequel comes out on July 14, so we don't have much longer to wait.
