To Kill a Mockingbird may well be our national novel. ­Published in 1960, it continues to sell nearly a million copies a year, more than any other twentieth-century classic. To mark its fiftieth anniversary, Mary McDonagh Murphy has written a lively appreciation that examines how the novel has left its mark on a broad range of novelists, historians, journalists, and artists. In compelling interviews, Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, Oprah Winfrey, James Patterson, James McBride, and others reflect on when they first read the novel, what it meant to them, and how it has affected their lives and careers.