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Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon
 
 
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Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon [Paperback]

Melissa Anelli (Author), J.K. Rowling (Introduction)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews) |
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Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2008

The Harry Potter Books Were Just The Beginning of the Story...

During the brief span of just one decade, hundreds of millions of perfectly ordinary people made history: they became the only ones who would remember what it was like when the Harry Potter saga was still unfinished. What it was like to seek out friends, families, online forums, fan fiction, and podcasts to get a fix between novels. When the potential death of a character was a hotter bet than the World Series. When the unfolding story of a boy wizard changed the way books are read for all time.

And as webmistress of the Leaky Cauldron, one of the most popular Harry Potter sites on the Internet, Melissa Anelli had a front row seat to it all. Whether it was helping Scholastic stop leaks and track down counterfeiters, hosting live PotterCasts at bookstores across the country, touring with the wizard rock band Harry and the Potters, or traveling to Edinburgh to interview J. K. Rowling personally, Melissa was at the center of the Harry Potter tornado, and nothing about her life would ever be the same.

The Harry Potter books are a triumph of the imagination that did far more than break sales records for all time. They restored the world's sense of wonder and took on a magical life of their own. Now the series has ended, but the story is not over. With remembrances from J. K. Rowling's editors, agents, publicists, fans, and Rowling herself, Melissa Anelli takes us on a personal journey through every aspect of the Harry Potter phenomenon -- from his very first spell to his lasting impact on the way we live and dream.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With infectious, at times frenetic, excitement, Anelli presents two narratives in this hip report on how a boy wizard became a rock star. The first is a love letter to the fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter: a smart, creative, multinational, generation-spanning and technology-driven community. In the second, Anelli gives readers an exhaustive, if often jumbled, time line of Harry Potter's popularity. Appropriately for the webmistress of the Leaky Cauldron Web site, the author pays attention to the power of the Internet and its symbiotic relationship with fan communities, known as fandoms. Anelli attributes the evolution of fandoms principally to Harry Potter—an error that ignores other fandom phenomena like Star Trek or The X-Files. As she details her work with the Leaky Cauldron, readers get a view into the publishing world and the impressive tale of Harry Potter's ascension. Anelli also shares sweet scenes of meeting Rowling and the actors who portray the characters in the films. Fans will recognize themselves in these pages, and the curious might finally understand their friends. (Nov. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The words Harry Potter conjure up not only images of a successful seven-book series about a boy wizard but also the epic economic and cultural phenomenon it inspired. Author Anelli was front and center for much of this evolution and, as webmistress of the popular fan site the Leaky Cauldron, may even have contributed to it. Her painstakingly detailed account of the phenomenon’s many aspects—fan sites, fan fiction, movies, promotional tours, podcasts, rock bands, and more—will be of interest primarily to hardcore devotees (and possibly, someday, to cultural anthropologists). Meanwhile, admirers of the books themselves will find less of interest here but will still enjoy the insider’s glimpses Anelli offers of Harry’s creator, J. K. Rowling, and of the series’ publishing history, though there is little analysis of how the books changed people’s attitudes toward reading and children’s literature. Although she’s not a particularly graceful writer, Anelli is a true believer, and her passionate devotion to all things Harry is often endearing and undeniably infectious. --Michael Cart
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 356 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (November 4, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416554955
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416554950
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Melissa Anelli Page
Melissa Anelli
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
129 of 146 people found the following review helpful
Anelli, A History January 5, 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For all the fanfare this book has gotten, I'm not entirely sure all of it is deserved. It is a lovely look back at how the Harry Potter fandom evolved and got to where it is today, but there are some issues I do have with the book. One of the things I noticed was that Melissa told the book like it was a novel, a fictional piece, filled with flowery description that I feel has no place in what is essential a memoir of sorts. The intent of the book is to retell the HP fandom, from start to finish. Melissa pulls this off artfully, but if her intent was to reach the general public, it was not accomplished. From start to finish, this book is full of name-dropping and in-jokes that just another Harry Potter fan would never understand. In this book, the BNFs (Big Name Fans) rule supreme. The other side of the fandom is never shown. It took 90 pages for the first mention of MuggleNet, and all future mentions (of which there were very few and only when absolutely necessary) were cold and snobby. The HPANA is mentioned only once, in the acknowledgements, the Lexicon once, nothing about the humongous controversy, and no mention at all of Veritaserum and other sites out there. The truth is, Melissa fails to mention the side that truly appeals to the general fan. I did not feel, after reading this book, like I was part of the phenomenon, although I know I was, because I read the books, I posted in the communities, I had just as much fun theorizing, but nope, I didn't own a fansite or publish JKR's books, so I clearly don't matter. Probably about 90% of the Harry Potter fans would fall in my boat, not Melissa's. Where is our story? It was a good read, I will not say I disliked it, but I just wish Melissa had shown us the entirety of the HP world, instead of her secluded, high-and-mighty part of it.

Rating: 3.5/5
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129 of 148 people found the following review helpful
Disappointing November 17, 2008
Format:Paperback
This book really should have been called "Melissa, A History" because it is basically a biography of the author Melissa Anelli. I had expected more behind-the-scenes info on Harry Potter, the books, the movies, and JK Rowling. Although there is some of that in this book, there is much more Melissa than Harry.

The subtitle of this book is, "The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon". The promise of the true story of a boy wizard and life inside the Harry Potter phenomenon were very lacking. "His Fans" (specifically Melissa and her friends) was the bulk of this book. Unfortunately, I was primarily interested in the other two.

The book jumps around so unforgivenly at times it gets very confusing. A chronological approach would have made more sense. Melissa was actually on the movie sets and presumably spoke with the actors, producers, etc., but there is far too little of that in the book. The author also seems to expect that you are a rabid fan of the Leaky Cauldron web site, which she runs. I say this because she glosses over some blogs and interviews that were apparently posted on the web site, mentioning some fact and then moving on. She actually lists several questions asked of Ms. Rowling that I would have liked to seen the answers for, but apparently the reader is already supposed to know the answers.

I don't blame Melissa for cashing in on her position - writing a book is the way to go these days. I'm disappointed, because this book could have been something much better: better organized, better information, and, frankly, better writing.
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38 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Since I have never heard a podcast discussing Harry Potter, or engaged in an Internet chat, or written fanfic using Rowling's characters and settings (which just seems wrong to do anyway), this book was a disappointment because it's about this one girl whose interest in the book led to working on the Leaky Cauldron website, dealing with fans, traveling the country doing podcasts, and visiting England for Potter events and interviews with J.K. Rowling. She got very close to the author, and I would have rather read a collection of her interviews with the Rowling than most of this. But for some reason she doesn't include them here, just alludes to them. That's my biggest complaint. I was hoping this was a compendium of interviews done for the website over the years.

But it's not. It's a story about one young woman's unusual career path, and now she's getting a book out of it. She is a good writer, but since I don't know her friends or traveling companions (again, because I didn't follow the podcasts), a lot of this was of no interest to me.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sorely Disappointed
The story is more about the author than it is about Harryy Potter. Honestly, all I read was how wonderful the author is, how she rubbed elbows with folks,etc. who cares? Read more
Published 3 days ago by C. Frick
Obsessed.
What can I say about the cover? It's darling. Anything with Harry Potter's glasses on it, I would love. Read more
Published 1 month ago by KaitorTot
love to see a fan's point of view!
I love this book because it makes you feel like there's nothing wrong with being a Harry Potter fan. And it makes you feel proud to be one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by potterfan
Wonderful
I loved this book. It was great reading about Melissa's journey through Harry Potter and the fandom. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anastasia
Harry Forever
This book gave me a thrill. I felt like I was reliving the HP fandom> every page was a new adventure I was taking with Melissa and Harry together. Read more
Published 4 months ago by mollyc
nice new like book
The book is in great condition.It came in the mail within a few day's of purchase.I thought it was a hardback book,but that was my fault for not checking closer.
Published 5 months ago by christy h
Rip Off!!!
I have been a Harry Potter fan for a long time, I have read every Harry Potter book and seen every movie. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Heather Wells
Anelli, Harry: A History
This book covers the fans of Harry Potter. It is written by a hardcore fan herself and is a fun submergence into the world of the people who made Harry Potter famous, despite his... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Awilson
Long Live Pottermania!
Reading Melissa Anelli's journey from HP novice to HP goddess, becoming the chief editor at the Leaky Cauldron fan website (along with Mugglenet, one of J.K. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Erin O'Riordan
THIS BOOK IS A FAKE
This book is Utter crap, It has nothing to do with the fans and more about Melissa Anelli, And as a HP fan I'm embarrass that she calls herself a fan. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Heather Wells
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
daily affirmations, boy wizard
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Harry Potter, Warner Bros, Deathly Hallows, New York, Leaky Cauldron, Public Assistance, Laura Mallory, Sugar Quill, Spinning the Web, High Seas, Near Misses, Goblet of Fire, Chamber of Secrets, Christopher Little, Neil Blair, Order of the Phoenix, Blue Square, Draco Malfoy, United States, Half-Blood Prince, Vanity Fair, Arthur Levine, One Day More, Kris Moran, Save Ginny
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any chance of a hardcover version? 4 Sep 12, 2008
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