The story behind the confusing title for Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman

Harper Lee
(Image credit: Getty Images)

There has been a fair amount of confusion over the title of Harper Lee's new book, Go Set a Watchman, and it might come down to its missing comma.

The title of the book (which comes out on July 14; you can read the first chapter here) is derived from Isaiah 21:6, which reads in the King James version of the Bible as, "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seethe."

Then naturally the title ought to be Go, Set a Watchman. Comma included. However, Lee was having none of it. When she was shown a mock-up of the book jacket earlier in the year, she put her foot down.

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"She looked at it and said there should be no comma after the word 'Go,'" Lee Sentell, the tourism director of Lee's hometown of Monroeville, told The Los Angeles Times. Lee's editors pointed out that there actually is a comma in the King James version that Lee was quoting from.

To which Lee reportedly replied, "That's the Lord's book. This is my book. And there is no comma."

Whoever said Lee didn't have her wits about her?

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.