Harry Potter and the Pitfalls of Success

	June 2003 -- There's a new Harry Potter book headed to the stores, which means big money for the publishing industry. This week your foolish hosts discuss the fortunes of Scholastic Publishing -- the company behind the boy wizard books in the United States -- and offer some perspective on just what happens when a phenomenon is born. Listen to audio Delivery of Harry Potter Books Kathy du Champ of member station KUOW follows a Fedex delivery truck making the rounds to eager readers with the latest Harry Potter book. June 21, 2003 Boarding School Literature NPR's Neda Ulaby reports on the tradition of boarding school literature which has greatly influenced the Harry Potter novels, the latest of which appears this week. June 21, 2003
David and Tom Gardner, your Foolish hosts.
"The staggering 8.5 million copies of the book being printed prompted Saturday Night Live to joke that [J.K.] Rowling's next book will be titled 'Harry Potter and the End of Trees'..." Rick Aristotle Munarriz Features Writer The Motley Fool®

Harry Potter on Sale at Midnight
Michele Norris talks with Vivien Jennings, president of Rainy Day Books, about the events she has planned for launching the sale of the latest Harry Potter book at midnight Friday night.
June 20, 2003

Harry Potter Mania Returns
The fifth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday. Thousands of bookstores across the United States plan late-night Potter parties. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.
June 20, 2003

Harry Potter's Lament
Fool columnist Rick Aristotle Munarriz points to recent layoffs at Scholastic as a sign that everyone but the company is cashing in.
From The Motley Fool Web site
Thursday, May 29, 2003

Knock-Off Potters
Chinese children are miffed that Harry Potter books five, six and seven, unpublished -- even unwritten -- in the West, are not as good as one through four. Counterfeiters are making money hand over fist and there isn't much anyone can do about it.
October 16, 2002

Harry Potter Goes Latin
NPR interview with Peter Needham, who is translating the Harry Potter books into Latin.
December 15, 2001

"Larry" Potter?
Writer Tony Hendra imagines a "pitch" by two frantic Hollywood screenwriters trying to sell an Americanized version of the Harry Potter story -- a blockbuster full of car chases, explosions and actors like Denzel Washington.
November 16, 2001

Other Resources

The Harry Potter Lexicon Web site

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