The name J.K. Rowling is one that is on the lips of millions of readers worldwide, but before 1997 few people knew the brilliant woman behind the phenomenally successful Harry Potter books. And now, four books into the series, few yet know the real story of Ms. Rowling's childhood and career as a writer. This is the first and only true telling of Ms. Rowling's history because it is in her own words, from her birth in Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, England, to the stories about her favorite and least favorite teachers in school growing up, and to the funny misunderstanding in her first fan letter. It is like a visit with a friend, a friend who has brought you to tears with laughter and told the most enchanting stories you've ever been told.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
If you're a Harry Potter fan who knows more about J.K. Rowling than you know about most of your own family, then you won't find much new in this slim, large-type book. But younger kids (and Muggle grownups hoping for some insight into the world of Harry Potter) will learn quite a bit about this phenomenally successful series and its unassuming author.
Divided into roughly three sections, Conversations with J.K. Rowling begins with some fairly general questions about the author's early childhood ("Did you have any pets?"), school days ("Did you watch much television as a child?"), and career ("Can you describe the process of creating the stories?"). The book then follows with an excerpt-assisted overview of the first four Harry Potter adventures (again, great for Muggles), and ends with a smattering of quotes from Rowling's interviews with Larry King, Newsweek, Oprah Winfrey's O magazine, and Entertainment Weekly.
Kids will get a kick out of many of the anecdotes (Rowling can't remember her little sister's birth, just eating the Play-Doh that she was given that day to distract her), while older readers should enjoy more sophisticated insights into her books (like how she decided to write full-time when she still had a daughter to support). Certainly a light (and quick) read, but fun for what it is. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes
From Publishers Weekly
In a highly accessible Q&A format, the author of the Harry Potter books reveals what it was like for her growing up her family life, pets and school days as well as her career as a writer in Conversations with J.K. Rowling by Lindsey Fraser. Excerpts from her interviews with Oprah, Newsweek and Larry King, among others, are also included, along with brief plot descriptions of books one through four.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wasn't very impressed,
This review is from: Conversations with J. K. Rowling (Paperback)
As a teen fan of J.K. Rowling I was pretty unimpressed with this book. From first sight I was surprised at how thin this book was and the huge print.( Kinda like a book for a seven-year-old) Then was disappointed me even more was that the initial interview was only about 2/3 of the book. Some of the facts in the interview was interesting but much to me was already known. It seemed to me throughout the entire interview J.K. was controling every little detail she let out. That is her character though. She never really ever revealed any of her plot line in her writing either.The rest of the book was a complete overview of the Harry Potter series. This to me was a waste of time for I have read the books like 3 times each. And reader bewarned...if you haven't read all the Harry Potter books, this section holds a lot of spoilers which might ruin your experience. All and all this book disappointed me very much. I hope someday J.K. decides to write a book about herself because billions of people are very interested in her life.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Kinda disappointed,
This review is from: Conversations with J. K. Rowling (Paperback)
The first impression I got of this book is how thin it is. That wasn't the biggest one though. Let's just say when I opened it up I found the print to be HUGE. Another thing that disappointed me was from pg. 58 and on it was just an overview of the first 4 Harry Potter books. As a teen fan of Harry Potter and having read them many times I found it quite boring to have about 30 pages of just overview of things I already know. For a new fan of Harry Potter who hasn't read all the books it includes plenty of spoiler so I recommend you read the books first before you actrully read this interview book.This book was split into three parts. The first part was called "An interview with J.K. Rowling. As enphasized on the cover this the first and only Authorized Biography of J.K. Rowling and I have found the little tidbids of information J.K. reveals to be disappointing. However that is the nature of J.K.'s character has she never reveals much about her story plotlines either. This first section of the book goes from pg. 11 to 57. It is split into four parts: Part Two of this book was called "J.K. Rowling books" It was split into two parts: Part three of the book was just a bibiography and had a page of summery of the first 4 books. All and all this book only had 50 pages of HUGE print worth reading and I finished it in 40 minutes. As an teen fan of J.K. Rowling's I hope she writes a biography that tells more about her life than this after she finishes her seven Harry Potter books.
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Enough Infromation to be worth its cover price,
By A Customer
This review is from: Conversations with J. K. Rowling (Paperback)
The book itself is pretty small, only 96 pages of text in a larger than normal letter size, starting on page 11. Most of thebook revolves around questions and answers that you would ask your penpal: "Did you enjoy art? and "What types of music did you listen to as a child?" are two such examples. Okay, okay it is a biography, but some of the answers are found WORD-FOR-WORD in various interviews, the most obvious is the recent issue of Vanity Fair, citing that she turned WB and every studio down at first. That isn't the ONLY answer she's taken from a previous interviews. A lot of other things that she's mentioned before, but not as funny as in other interviews. A portion of the information is indeed new, but nothing outstanding. If you are hoping that she slipped any information at all- expect to be dissapointed. Very dissapointed. I only found one semi-significant bits of insight. She has the entire history and childhood of Sirius Black. This however what put into Vanity Fair. The questions from the author lasted only until page 57. From pages 58 to 83 the author summurizes the first four books. As if we didn't read them all already. How many people would actually pick up this book before finishing all four. Most of the commentary is followed by long snippets of the book, about a half page on average. I estimate it took up about six pages. After the commentary from page 83 until 90, there is a transcript of some interview including Newsweek, O and Larry King. These interviews are from July 2000. For those who want insight, J.K. Rowling mentions book seven will be very long, like Encyclopedia Brittanca, because she wants "to say goodbye." This was from 2000, and yes, I read it then, when the interview came out (my family used to subscribe to Newsweek), and I'm not impressed. Pages 91 to 95 list J.K. Rowling's entire works. As if we didn't know what those were. It lists the American books with their publication dates in YEARS, not months, nor days. (Who could EVER forget July 8, 2000?) Also metntioned are all the awards the books has won, bringing the book 1 title page to two pages. On a more interesting note, the book summaries are from the backs of the BRITISH books (I know this because I own them too), and let me tell you, they are the dumbest plot descriptions I have ever seen in my life. (then again I'm pretty sure that the person who wrote the American plot description for book four wasn't allowed to read it) The final page, 96, is about the author, who is, apparently, British. In other comments, the book is written with American spellings.(unlike the Harry Potter Schoolbooks which were almost completely unedited save for the (real)publisher's name) And there are four pictures. Two are photos of J.K. Rowling, and the other two are line drawings of Fawkes and the Sorting Hat. Neither is spectacular, nothing like the detail of the picture of Harry at the Dursleys featured in the Scorceror's Stone Collector's Edition. In my opinion, the author is straining for material to put SOME substance to the book. The print is large and so are the margins, tricks people (and students like me) use to make the book seem longer. I will mention again that the book starts on page 11. This book is not meant for die-hards at all. About eighty percent is stuff that the seasoned internet surfer already knows. If you have NEVER read an interview with the author, get it, but I would not recommend buying this book, at least at full price. If you have to get it, go ahead, but it's not worth rushing for. The author could have done so much better.
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