In the summer of 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released. I had actually never even heard of this series of books until my mother bought me a copy of the first Harry Potter and told me I should give it a try. I resisted for a while, thinking it was just a kid’s book. Sometime towards the end of summer I finally cracked it open and ended up reading it in two days. I hurried out to buy the next three and read them in a week’s time.
Since then, I have had a substantial reading affair with what is, on the outside, a series of children’s books. I know I don’t need to say, “but they are really good reads even for adults,” as you have all certainly heard it. Truth be told, I think the marketing is the cause for the runaway success of the Harry Potter franchise. Look at the hype surrounding the bittersweet release of the final episode of the, now adult, fledgling wizards. I’m not trying to diminish the impact and granduer of the books, but realistically, the marketing for this machine is incredible. There are going to be thousands, if not millions of people screaming simultaneously in an hour and 40 minutes as the first wave of Americans and Canadians get place their hands on their own copies of this time. There will be thousands, if not millions of people screaming and cheering on the hour for the next several hours for the same reason. There are probably close to a quarter million people currently wearing or soon to be wearing wizard or Harry Potter related garb tonight.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, there has been a leak and there are photographs of every page of the last novel floating around the internet. Thousands of people, I daresay, have already consumed the last book. There will probably be people driving past the “midnight magic” party at your local Barnes and Noble shouting spoilers. If you are planning on buying a zero-day copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, prepare to isolate yourself until you finish reading it. Also, try to isolate yourself during the purchasing process. That is, if you want to be surprised. It is a little disappointing that so many people thrive on ruining the experience for others. Regardless, it happened the for the last book and the book before; it happened for the third Star Wars episode, and will certainly be happening again, tonight.
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