Word: potterized
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...read a passage from his novel A Prayer for Owen Meany with wonderful verve and humor. But the men knew who the main event was. Rowling didn't just have the best shoes - gold strappy sandals - she also had the most devoted fans. After reading a passage from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, her most recent book - the sixth in the seven-book series - she took questions from the audience, the longest from Salman Rushdie, ostensibly on behalf of his son. For Potter fans, it seemed, it was the questions that counted, since they were a chance...
...remarkable thing, the Potter phenomenon. In introducing Rowling, actress Kathy Bates gave the impression that the distinguishing thing about the Potter books is that they have made readers of those who would otherwise have their nose buried in a screen of some kind. But that doesn't seem quite right. Harry Potter appeals to plenty of children - and adults - who love reading books of all kinds. The stories have that crucial ability to be fantastic and believable at the same time, the characters are flesh and blood, and the plotting rich and unexpected. Rowling deserves her fame and wealth...
...What I hadn't appreciated before was how much a heroine she is to her readers; Gina, a devoted Potter fan, had been had counting the days to the reading, and it was plainly the chance to see Rowling in the flesh that had attracted her to the event. I don't think I ever felt that way about Arthur Ransome, the wonderful British children's author of the 1930s and 1940s whose books I once devoured with the same passion Gina now displays. But then, the whole way in which one consumes and appreciates children's literature has changed...
...Still, in the end, it's the words that count. Gina thought the readings were wonderful, of course, but so did Roxana, 17, her elder sister, who likes to point out that when it comes to Potter "I'm not obsessive." Both of them loved Irving - Roxana had seen the movie of The Cider House Rules but not read the book - and I hope will try out his work soon. All in all, quite a night; when the Rockettes next need a night off, maybe Radio City should give Jonathan Safran Foer and Zadie Smith a call...
...telling that story for the first time--or the last. Soul Surfer, her autobiography, came out in 2004, and the movie version is set to start shooting this fall. Who might play Bethany? The filmmakers' target list includes Emma Watson (Harry Potter's friend Hermione) and Britney Spears' sister Jamie Lynn...