It's obviously a first book with some interesting ideas and writing, but lacking the polish and smoothness of a more experienced writer. I understand why Tay Hohoff ,who read it first, sent Harper Lee back (over a period of a few years) to write To Kill A Mockingbird. I understand why many hate it. It shows Atticus to be more of a Human being - flawed and complex. Not the icon from her childhood memories. The novel is one of those works in which the parts are better than the sum total. Ursula K. Le Guin wrote in an essay: "Harper Lee was a good writer. She wrote a lovable, greatly beloved book. But this earlier one, for all its faults and omissions, asks some of the hard questions To Kill a Mockingbird evades." I have to agree. I love both the movie and novel, but this book is actually a little more adult in some respects.