Charles J. Shields
Charles J. Shields is the author of And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life (Henry Holt & Co.), Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (Holt), the highly acclaimed, bestselling biography of Harper Lee,I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers), and The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel: John Williams, Stoner, and the Writing Life (University of Texas Press).
In January 2022, Henry Holt will release Shields' new book, Lorraine Hansberry: The Life Behind 'A Raisin in the Sun,' the most comprehensive biography of, in James Baldwin’s words, this “very young woman, with an overpowering vision.”
“The great purpose in life is to take your destiny out of the hands of others.”
Charles J. Shields
“Self-pity is a sin. It is a form of living suicide.”
Charles J. Shields
“I think part of your success lies in the shock of recognition- or as the Japanese might say, 'the unexpected recognition of the faithful "suchness" of very ordinary things'.”
Charles J. Shields
“The Kansas state motto, "Ad astra per aspera" - To the stars through difficulties. ”
Charles J. Shields
“She just wanted to be comfortable in her own skin...But she would not stop to seek others' approval. The notion that she should never seemed to enter her head. Her right to live as she pleased was not up for negotiation, even if it ran against the grain of the milieu at Huntingdon.”
Charles J. Shields
“You took her as she was. She wasn't trying to impress anyone," said Claude Nunnelly.”
Charles J. Shields
“At home, he (A.C. Lee) encouraged Nelle to clamber up on him lap to "help" him read the newspaper or complete the crossword puzzle.”
Charles J. Shields