POTTER RUMINATION

A day or two ago, when I was unloading boxes in the receiving bay, I came across a most quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. Well ... okay ... "forgotten lore" may be a stretch ... actually, it's topic-of-the-moment type stuff. But it is, in fact, rather quaint and curious, if I may say so.

And it's likely to be of great interest to many of my readers.

Case in point:

I pulled the book out of the box and gazed upon the faux aged cover (made to look faded and well worn). My eyes flew open wide as I read the following words:

Ben Bella Books...

Purveyors of Aids to Literary Mischief -Makers
is proud to present the highly unauthorized work

MAPPING THE WORLD OF HARRY POTTER.

My first thought was, "It's an atlas of Harry's world. They've finally gone completely JRR Tolkien with it, and now they're putting out atlases, too."

We've already seen various encyclopedias and lexicons and umpteen guides to the world of Harry (also Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans, Droobles Chewing Gum, Cockroach Clusters, Hogwarts house banners, magic wands, costumes, pins, badges, t-shirts, underwear, condoms*, etc. etc.) . There are even books about Harry Potter and philisophy and, of course, the tired old issue that haunts us all, explored in a book called What is a Christian to do About Harry Potter?

(I don't know, religious-writer-person, what can you do about Harry? Let's see. You're a Christian, right? So ... forgive him!)

"And now ... MAPS", I thought. "Entire books of them." Just like Middle Earth.

But it's just a symbolic "mapping" -- as the subtext suggests:

Science fiction and Fantasy Authors Explore the Bestselling Fantasy Series of All Time

The back cover posed some intriguing teasers --- Why It's a Very Bad Idea to Make Hermione Mad, Harry's Greatest Danger (It's Not You Know Who), The Importance of Being Dursley, In Praise of Hufflepuff, Is Harry Potter Sexist?, Is J.K. Rowling Going to Hell?

Dig these chapter titles:

Harry Potter and the Young Man's Mistake - The Illusions of Innocence and the Temptation of Power

The Dursley's as Social Commentary

(and my personal favorite:)

To Sir, With Love - How Fan Fiction Transformed Professor Snape from a Greasy Git to a Byronic Hero ... Who's Really, Really into S&M

Harry Potter and the End of Religion

It's All About God

Hermione Granger and the Charge of Sexism

Neville Longbottom: The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Why Dumbledore Had to Die

From Azkaban to Abu Ghraid - Fear and Fascism in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Ich Bin Ein Hufflepuff - Strategies for Variable Skill Management in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels

Harry Potter as Schooldays Novel

Harry Potter and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Counselor

The Proper Wizard's Guide to Good Manners - A Muggle Tells All

(and finally)

Why Killing Harry Is the Worst Outcome for Voldemort

Intrigued, are you, my little witches and wizards?

Very good. So was I. So, of course, I bought it at that very instant (using my employee of the month gift card). I intend to explore this thing from cover to cover, ASAP, in order to get my Harry Potter fix (since the next book isn't coming out until who-knows-when).

I've got a deal for you, mein froinds. I'll be happy to loan this book out on a first-come-first-serve basis. So comment first, and you'll get it first. Second, and you'll get it second. And so on.

Or you can just come to Borders and buy a copy of your own. Then we can compare notes; sort of like when the actual books come out and we all devour them, voraciously, and talk about them non-stop for days on end.

P.S. Some of you really rabid HP fans have probably heard everything there is to hear about JK Rowling's world. But you'll probably want to read the book, anyway. Besides, it's got a really cool cover that looks just like the Marauders' Map (on the front and the back). And, I swear, I keep seeing little footsteps, with the name Peter Pettigrew, skittering about all over the place.

* Yes, condoms! Ergo the ad: Protect Your Magic Wand From Hogwarts When You Enter Her Chamber of Secrets. (For more information, visit "Snape's Dungeon" on my list of Confidantes.)