Today I finished reading Harry, A History by The Leaky Cauldron's (http://leakynews.com) webmistress Melissa Anelli. And it was awesome.
The book is about, as the tag-line describes it - "The true story of a boy wizard, his fans, and life inside the Harry Potter phenomenon". It combines Melissa's personal experience of discovering the books, Leaky and the fandom in general; with other people's stories that relate to discovering Harry Potter, how it and how the fandom has effected them in their lives.
It was quite amazing (well I thought so) the way Melissa managed to weave in significant events that have happened over the past decade inluding the Columbine High School Shootings and the 9/11 attacks. Also parts of the fandom like the birth of wizard rock and the intensity of the shipping wars were explained in detail that you probably wouldn't find on the internet which just shows how thoroughly researched the book is. But the best part was that Melissa managed to get Jo involved in the making of the book, by conducting a lengthy interview with her about the books, the fandom and Jo's life writing the books.
I've always enjoyed reading Melissa's blog and couldn't wait for her book to come out, which I heard about probably about a year ago? Especially since I was part of the fandom she was writing about, and hopefully this book proves, at least to some people, that Harry Potter and the Harry Potter fandom is something special. Hmmm I think that last sentence sounded corny; but whatever....
Go buy Harry, A History, right... NOW. Only 12.95 at Kmart. And practically not in stores anywhere else in WA.
http://harryahistory.com
~Gerarda
Things that are awesome
11 years ago
