Harry Potter Mania: The Final Battle
I may have to do another one of these round-ups on Monday to get the post-publication stuff (and the reviews that won’t annoy Rowling by their very existence), but, after that, I never want to hear the words "Harry Potter" in my life again. (Above, Mr. Potter illustrates my mood.)
CNN just realized that Deathly Hallows publishes tomorrow and they haven’t run a bland “it’s coming” story yet. Problem fixed.
The Houston Chonicle runs Potter Story #5A, “these kids grew up while reading the Potter books.”
The Vail Daily News, on the other hand, files #6B, “this wait is killing us.”
The University of North Texas declares that it has professors standing by to comment profoundly on Deathly Hallows at a moment’s notice.
The Business Gazette of Maryland knows where all the good parties are.
Blogcritics has one of those “it doesn’t matter what happens in the outside world, I’m going to have my own special moment with Deathly Hallows and no one can stop me” pieces, this time by Katie McNeill.
Inside Higher Ed goes inside baseball with a story about the media coverage of Harry Potter. And then I comment on a story about the media coverage, here! Coming soon: meta-comments on my comments, and a spiral into utter madness.
Nicholas Clee, at the Guardian blog, is overjoyed to see arrogant UK supermarket chain Asda brought to heel by the power of J.K. Rowling.
The Indianapolis Star puts its money down on the “classics forever” marker.
Michael Burstein is an observant jew, and has been trying to figure out a way to get a copy of Deathly Hallows on publication day (which is also Shabbat, when engaging in commerce is forbidden). Any particularly clever rabbis out there want to help him?
The Belfast Telegram notes that Deathly Hallows goes on sale at midnight tonight. (Doesn’t a “Belfast Telegram” sound like a euphemism for something – like maybe a Molotov cocktail through the letter-slot?)
The Baltimore Sun reports on the odd people who are following Rowling’s demands and not opening their early-release packages of Deathly Hallows.
The Edmonton Sun watches bookstores batten down the hatches and prepare to be boarded.
The Times of India notes that a lot of people will want this book. Thank you, Commander Obvious.
Fox News has a transcript of the “Big Story” segment that talked about the Deathly Hallows internet leak. Has Bill O’Reilly blamed it on Hillary yet?
Publishers Weekly’s Book Maven blog thinks that Michiko Kakutani’s New York Times review of Deathly Hallows was scrubbed of spoilers after initial publication.
Speaking of the Times, only they would be so full of themselves as to actually use the phrase “muggle soirees” in a headline.
E! News thinks that it’s very sad that the mean ol’ New York Times reviewed a book before the author said it was OK to do it. Mean ol’ Times!
The Cleveland Leader has a somewhat less dramatic take on reviewing a book before the publication date.
Reuters tries to sum up the entire history of Harry Potter in one article.
The San Francisco Chronicle obsesses about whether Harry and Voldemort live or die in Deathly Hallows. (Of course Voldemort dies, silly, it’s that kind of book. Harry, on the other hand, isn’t a sure bet either way, though he’ll probably pull through, merely “greviously injured.”)
Immediately after guaranteeing that they’ll have stock on Deathly Hallows by giving a groveling, French-style apology to Ms. Rowling, the British supermarket chain Asda has announced that they’ll be selling it for £5 – roughly $10, and solidly below their own cost.
The Huffington Post apparently thinks that reviewing a book before the on-sale date is a hanging offense. Now, I’m happy to beat up on the New York Times as much as anyone – maybe even more so – but the job of a newspaper is to seek out news stories and report on them, which is exactly what they’ve done here.
The Bookseller reports on Bloomsbury’s attempts to cap Deathly Hallows returns in the UK by holding reprints until Wednesday.
The Scotsman reports on a hotel where you can get “Mrs. Weasley’s breakfast” tomorrow. (Again, that sounds like a euphemism for something I don’t waant to know about. "Darling, can you come over here? The dog’s got into Mrs. Weasley’s breakfast again, and I need a hand cleaning up.")
Publishing News is already looking past Potter to Christmas.
The Financial Times wants to know who, exactly, is making how much money on Potter. (It’s not the bookstores, as we all know by now.)
Your Boston-area party plans are provided by the Boston Globe.
Alert J.K. Rowling’s slavering hordes of lawyers! A Norwegian man has managed to buy a copy of Deathly Hallows early! Sue him! Sue them all into oblivion!
The Bookseller is on line in front of a Waterstone’s shop in London, with a band of hearty souls who have been there since Wednesday. (It must be restful to have absoultely nothing important to do in your life.)
The Millions makes some guesses about the plot of Deathly Hallows. (One thing that I suspect she’s slightly wrong on: if Dumbledore does come back, it won’t be because he’s not dead.)
The Los Angeles Times has a short article on the Israeli Shabbat issue on Deathly Hallows, including the new-to-me fact that that’s illegal for Jews to work on the Shabbat in Israel. (The Industry and Trade Minister, Eli Yishai, is threatening fines for stores that break the law.)
The International Herald-Tribune also has a story on the Israeli situation.
Speaking of the International Herald-Tribune, they have something that looks like a review of Deathly Hallows, despite the fact that they haven’t read it yet.
Salon’s Machinist blog lists the winners and losers of the Harry Potter leak.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on Amazon’s plans and promotions for Deathly Hallows.
Bloomberg has the betting line (now closed) on deaths in Deathly Hallows.
NPR had a story about the security arrangements for Potter #7.
The Times of India notes that this will be the first time that a Braille edition of a Harry Potter book is available at the same time as the print version.
Fox News is yet another organization obsessed with Potter spoilers.
Jack Kapica, of the Globe and Mail’s Cyberia blog, is worried that the Harry Potter piracy will lead to more draconian copyright laws and the death penalty for infringers.
XPress tells you where to buy Deathly Hallows in Dubai.
The Jakarta Post profiles Listiana Srisanti, who will be translating Deathly Hallows into Indonesian.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ponders the publishing world without a new Harry Potter book to look forward to.
Margery Eagan, writing in the Boston Globe, wishes Harry Potter would just go away. (And he feels exactly the same way about you, Margery.)
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer wonders if the communities of Potter-readers will continue after the series is done. (Suuuure they will. And when’s the last time you got together with your X-Files-watching group?)
The Christian Science Monitor asks a bunch of Gen Y kids to pontificate on the importance of Harry Potter, and this cultural moment in particular, to them. (Because what that generation needs is more reason to be self-obsessed.)
Doing these Harry Potter link-lists, I’ve come across some interesting newspaper names, but the Cowichan Valley News Leader & Pictorial has to take the cake. That august journal details the local plans for Saturday’s festivities.
The Waterloo Chronicle also has one of those obligatory articles that begin “Local muggles will celebrate….”
Monsters & Critics is impressed that Harry Potter got teenagers to read for fun.
Larry of the OF Blog of the Fallen desperately wants Harry Potter spoilers.
The Telegraph has found leaked copies of Deathly Hallows for sale on eBay. (Shock! Horror!)
ABC News examines the plight of the child actors of Harry Potter: are they doomed to be typecast and end up on bad reality TV shows in ten years?
Newsday also laments that booksellers won’t make any money on Deathly Hallows.
The Telegraph reports on the backlash of Potter fans to the leak.
The New York Times reports that a distributor and bookseller have been sued by Scholastic for shipping some copies of Deathly Hallows early.
The Guardian relays the dismay of Potter’s publishers over early reviews in the New York Times and Baltimore Sun.
New York Magazine doesn’t really know anything, but had a column to fill, so waffles on for as bit.
Since everybody else is giving their opinions on Potter, how about asking Peter David’s daughter Ariel what she thinks?
Scrivener’s Error ran a poll about how many Weasleys will die in Deathly Hallows, with amusing results.
Franklin Harris, columnist for the mighty Decatur Daily, rails against the idea of spoilers.
[some links via GalleyCat]