Festive fairy tale

I walked over to the celebration for the arrival of the latest Harry Potter book at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco. It had started about 9 pm and I got there a bit after 10. There was a trivia quiz going on (which was followed by a magic show) and the bookstore was full of kids and adults (many dressed up). A table with Harry's favorite cake and candy was in the back.

I have way too many books I already own I need to read (and I'm broke), so I tried not to look at books I'd be tempted to buy. I sat and read the interview with Liz Phair in the June issue of Believer magazine since it isn't online (though check out the idea share). A bit after 11 pm, Word for Word did a performance of chapter 33 and 34 from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book (I went to the unveiling for it in 2000 at a Chicago Borders which was much less creative). They do a unique form of theater which is a cross between a drama and a reading which uses every word of the text.

When it was over people were lined up to get their copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The booksellers were unstacking the pile of sealed boxes of books. I thought about sticking around another ten minutes til they actually opened them. But I've only read the first book, so it will be a while before I get to it.

I walked home in time to hear the beginning of a discussion of the Harry phenom on Charlie Rose with Nancy Gibbs (who wrote Time's cover story), Janet Maslin of the New York Times (which has a section with reviews of the books and films), and Arthur Levine who edits the books.

And the first reviews are appearing. I'm just skimming them because I don't want to pick up any plot details. The often scathing Michiko Kakutani is full of praise while David Kippen is probably going to get hate email after writingin the SF Chron, "For most of the book's nearly 900 pages, a pervasive sense of stale familiarity hangs over the entire affair, as if we're stuck in a plane cabin whose air has recirculated a few too many times." The Kansan City Star has quotes from a few reviews.

Article Author: Steve Rhodes

Steve Rhodes is a journalist and photographer in San Francisco.

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