Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Melissa Anelli List Price: $16.00 Our Price: $10.88 You Save: $5.12 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Paperback 368 pages Release Date: 04 November 2008 Publisher: Pocket ISBN: 1416554955 Rating:   Sales Rank: 4386 | | Look for similar books by subject: | | Customers who bought this item also bought:
| | Customer Reviews: JUST FOR FUN! (06 January 2009)This was such fun to read and I am so full of admiration for J. K. Rowling. i am glad I bought this book! Anelli, A History (05 January 2009)For all the fanfare this book has gotten, I'm not entirely sure all of it is deserved. It is a lovely look back at how the Harry Potter fandom evolved and got to where it is today, but there are some issues I do have with the book. One of the things I noticed was that Melissa told the book like it was a novel, a fictional piece, filled with flowery description that I feel has no place in what is essential a memoir of sorts. The intent of the book is to retell the HP fandom, from start to finish. Melissa pulls this off artfully, but if her intent was to reach the general public, it was not accomplished. From start to finish, this book is full of name-dropping and in-jokes that just another Harry Potter fan would never understand. In this book, the BNFs (Big Name Fans) rule supreme. The other side of the fandom is never shown. It took 90 pages for the first mention of MuggleNet, and all future mentions (of which there were very few and only when absolutely necessary) were cold and snobby. The HPANA is mentioned only once, in the acknowledgements, the Lexicon once, nothing about the humongous controversy, and no mention at all of Veritaserum and other sites out there. The truth is, Melissa fails to mention the side that truly appeals to the general fan. I did not feel, after reading this book, like I was part of the phenomenon, although I know I was, because I read the books, I posted in the communities, I had just as much fun theorizing, but nope, I didn't own a fansite or publish JKR's books, so I clearly don't matter. Probably about 90% of the Harry Potter fans would fall in my boat, not Melissa's. Where is our story? It was a good read, I will not say I disliked it, but I just wish Melissa had shown us the entirety of the HP world, instead of her secluded, high-and-mighty part of it. Rating: 3.5/5 Not Exactly... (03 January 2009)I agree with some of the other reviews in that, while I enjoyed "Harry, a History," it wasn't quite the book I was hoping for. This is very much a personal memoir, and perhaps should have been called "Harry & Me: My Own Personal Journey Through the Harry Potter Phenomenon." As such, to be honest, it's quite interesting. No one, after all, has had the ringside seat that Anelli has had these past ten years, and she provides fascinating detail into some of the HP world's more esoteric sides, particularly involving its obsessive fans. Personally, however, I'm far less interested in wizard rock, fan fiction and HP conventions (do we really need a whole chapter on each?), and would have loved more of JK Rowling and the genesis of the books. Hopefully this is something of which Rowling herself is going to write in future, as well as her inspirations and creative process. I would also have liked more information on the films, their casting process, the development of the screen plays etc. Again, perhaps this is a subject Steve Kloves and Warner Brothers will address sometime down the line, when the films have been completed. In any event, as a title "Harry, a History" is somewhat misleading. Don't get me wrong: For the avid HP fan, this is an invaluable source of interesting tidbits, and one gets a vicarious thrill following Anelli's journey from fan to fanatic to insider. She's a pretty good writer, and a friendly, humble presence throughout; she's very much "one of us," and never less than pleasant company. All in all, I enjoyed "Harry, a History" quite a bit..but it wasn't the comprehensive, encyclopedic analysis of the HP phenomenon for which I was hoping. Disappointing (03 January 2009)Unfortunately, I only purchased this because Amazon suggested it when I purchased "The Tales of Beadle the Bard." It was a big waste of my time. A history of Harry Potter intrigued me because I love the books so much, but I expected much more material about J.K. Rowling and the history of writing the books. The author of this book has interviewed J.K. Rowling on several occasions, but there is very little in her book about those interviews, which was a big disappointment to me. I would only recommend this book to those who are already familiar with the Harry Potter websites discussed in the book (The Leaky Cauldron, Sugar Quill, etc.). I had never visited a Harry Potter website prior to reading this book. I knew nothing about podcasts or "fanfiction" or "wizard rock." I did not know there were Harry Potter conventions. It is pretty remarkable that the author of this book managed to make money from being a Harry Potter fan. A Better Title Might Have Been "A Sycophant's Story" (31 December 2008)Like The Lord of the Rings & Star Wars before it, the magical world of Harry Potter has conjured admirerers & detractors of all sorts. Most, of course, are content with the simple enjoyment provided by the books & subsequent films, defending or defiling them passionately as anything. Others devote their time to continuing the stories of their favorite characters (of course, under the watchful & ever-litigious eyes of Rowling & WB) through fan fiction, critical essays or other written works. Another type of bystander to the Potter phenomenon is of course the "web master," those who have admirably devoted no small amount of their time & energy to bringing the Potter fan community news & information on their favorite subjects. People, whom in this Web 2.0 world, can create a web site & somehow be considered a "journalist." An unfortunate byproduct of fandom is the tendency of certain people involved to acquire "fans" all of their own. Lemmings. Sycophants. There is no shortage of adjectives for this sort of person, who, sometimes through no fault of their own, is sought after by the larger fan community & considered "an insider." Some people might brush it all off with a laugh & recognize fandom for the silly thing it is. Others might write a book about it with dollar signs in their eyes. Unfortunately, that's mostly what we have here. Usefulness of the web site run by the author aside, this book is nothing more than another case of someone hitching their wagon to Rowling's gravy train. No doubt there is a modicum of information here that may be of interest to Anelli's family & friends, but anyone truly interested in Potter would be better off spending their time in line for the next movie than reading this book. And yes, I'm well aware that film does not come out for several months. Anelli devotes far too much ink demonstrating her own inflated sense of self-importance. There is quite a lot of revisionist history at play, no doubt to placate Rowling, lawyers, etc., & not every cauldron is shiny at TLC. For those content with being fans of fans, this might well be the book for you. For those with more ambitious reading interests, hold out for something better. If nothing else, if this book sells, it'll prove even more how bankable anything can be with the Potter name attached. | |
