Potter, Kindle Mark Year’s Literary News
The News Review:
- Potter, Kindle Mark Year’s Literary News
- There is life after Harry Potter for Bloomsbury
- Harry Potter: A delightfully delirious, irreverent and potty take
- 2007 at the movies: Dubious achievements
Potter, Kindle Mark Year’s Literary News
ABC News - Dec 28, 2007
Potter’s rise parallels the bumpier history of the e-book. Rowling’s debut, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” came out in the United States in 1998, around the same time that the word “e-book” began appearing in the mainstream press. In 2000, when Potter books were so hot that stores began holding midnight parties to welcome them, e-book fever was peaking. Stephen King’s e-story, “Riding the Bullet,” was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times and digital texts were the talk of that year’s BookExpo America. The convention’s featured speaker, Amazon. com head Jeff Bezos, predicted that digital texts could well make traditional retailers obsolete.
There is life after Harry Potter for Bloomsbury
Guardian Unlimited - Dec 28, 2007
Just before Christmas the German translation of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner secured the top spot in Germany’s bestseller list and Bloomsbury is hoping that its success heralds more hefty returns from its fast-growing subsidiary in the country. Bloomsbury, which is battling to convince a sceptical City that it can fill the post-Harry void, has already seen German revenues jump by more than a third in the first half of the year and, following a strong autumn, is confident of a stellar full year. The publisher entered the buoyant German book market in 2003 with the acquisition of Berlin Verlag. It has used the subsidiary to launch translations of books spotted in its UK and North American business - such as The Kite Runner and William Boyd’s Restless - as well as to distribute English-language books.
Harry Potter: A delightfully delirious, irreverent and potty take
Telegraph.co.uk - Dec 28, 2007
Instead, it looked as though we were going to be in for the theatrical equivalent of Jackanory. Edward assumed that martyred look of the self-conscious teenager with an unreliable parent.
2007 at the movies: Dubious achievements
Seattle Times - Dec 28, 2007
Also of note: Imelda Staunton in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” teaching us that villains can indeed wear pink. Best kid performances: Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement,” Dillon Freasier in “There Will Be Blood” (opening next week), Ed Sanders in “Sweeney Todd,” Abigail Breslin in “No Reservations. Best breakthrough: Casey Affleck, previously best known as Ben’s little brother, did terrific work in both “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. ” Amy Ryan, chillingly good as a neglectful mother in “Gone Baby Gone,” had moviegoers wondering where she’s been all our lives. (For the record, she’s been around for years; doing New York theater, TV shows like “The Wire” and “Law & Order,” and the occasional movie…
Most underwhelming cameo: After all the buzz about Keith Richards in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” didn’t we all expect something more exciting than the two minutes we got?Best reason to start a book club: To discuss the many very fine literary adaptations this year: “Atonement,” “Lady Chatterley,” “Lust, Caution,” “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” “Starting Out in the Evening,” and “The Namesake,” for starters. Worst reason to start a book club: To emulate the extremely dull conversations in “The Jane Austen Book Club. Heaviest baggage: Daniel Radcliffe as Not Harry Potter in “December Boys. ” (For the record, he was swell. )Most welcome sight: A pair of veterans stepping up to rare leading roles, and doing so with grace and artistry: Julie Christie in “Away from Her,” and Frank Langella in “Starting Out in the Evening. Best clash of the titans: Meryl Streep and Vanessa Redgrave, showing the kids how it’s done in their incandescent scene together in “Evening. Saddest goodbye: The words “In loving memory of Adrienne Shelly” in the end credits of the sweet-as-pie indie drama “Waitress.