That's the one I read, noting its nice deployment of the standard tricks. That's why my hat is off to Jerry Hall, the intelligent Texan and mother of four, divorced from Mick Jagger, who still sort of lives with her. She is reported to have cast the swing vote on the judging panel for Seamus Heaney. His creator, Ms. Rowling, deserved the lesser award she received for best children's book. But let us not exalt Potter, either, as a cultural icon.
Adults make a part of their lives only the works that have meaning.
Frank Baum's book, cemented into our culture by the 1939 Victor Fleming movie starring Judy Garland, was a children's fantasy, complete with a Wicked Witch of the West, but dealt deftly with heartlessness, mindlessness and cowardice. Its symbols became part of our culture. Munchkins presume to advise candidates following the yellow brick road to power, and behind the curtain we discover that the fearsome wizard of bombast is only a frightened Frank Morgan. For adults, Harry Potter may reign over the best-seller lists, but he has yet to heave his philosopher's stone over the rainbow. In a world where life is filled with analyzing, testing, scores and figuring, it is wonderful to be reminded of another part of ourselves.