Rowling Finds Last Hurrah Bittersweet

Only 7 copies of the Tales of Beedle the Bard exist

(NEWSER) - Sotheby’s figured The Tales of Beedle the Bard would fetch about $100,000 at auction—in retrospect, about 40 times too low. The book, a one-of-a-kind piece of the Harry Potter canon hand-written and illustrated by JK Rowling herself, fetched $3.98 million for charity today, Reuters reports. “Christmas has come early for me,” said an ecstatic Rowling. More»

Publishers hope guard dogs, armored vans will hex 'Hallows' leakers

(NEWSER) - Bloomsbury is shelling out millions to keep the latest and final installment in the Harry Potter series a chamber of secrets until its on-sale date next week. The British publishers are installing extra security and even guard-dogs at way stations as the Deathly Hallows ships to booksellers, and have a coven of lawyers ready to pounce on any breach in protocol. More»

Nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance uses books as inspiration

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter’s battle against injustice in the wizarding world has prompted fans to take the fight to the Muggle universe, the Los Angeles Times reports. Inspired by moral teachings of Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, the nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance has registered voters, collected some 13,000 books to donate to community centers, and raised $15,000 for displaced persons in Darfur and Burma. More»

Books lack moral weight as Potter gets off easy

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter is a fitting hero for a generation of readers: his powers arrive on a silver platter, and from there it’s “all zapping bad guys, no taking out the trash,” writes Kyle Smith in the New York Post. While heroes like Luke Skywalker face obstacles to achieving their potential, JK Rowling’s creation, "like many of his generation, is the Cosseted One from an early age.” More»

(NEWSER) - A new book by JK Rowling, patterned on one mentioned in the final Harry Potter installment, is set to be released tomorrow, Reuters reports. Profits from The Tales of Beedle the Bard will go to Rowling’s charity for Eastern European children. In addition to a global print run of 7.5 million, Amazon will release a collector’s edition facsimile of a handwritten, illustrated copy it bought at auction for $4 million. More»