Harry Power

I found myself in the bookstore last night where I go to enlighten myself roughly once a week. The Internet & TV don’t always do it for me. One of the thing books & magazines give is a tactile presence. I guess I’m still old school in certain ways such as when I’m reading a person’s writing or critiquing a resume. I need to see and hold it.

Back to the topic on hand. I found myself at Barnes & Nobles totally forgetting what important day it was in the minds of millions. There were ten times more cars than usual in the parking lot. For a moment I thought there was a conference in town and they were all now descending down on the restaurants. But as I walked closer to the book store I realized the congregation was not at the restaurants, it was at the book store.

And by the décor of many of the customers it was obvious what was going on. The new Harry Potter book was coming out at midnight. (outside of the bible & the communist manifesto, the Harry Potter series is the most printed reading material in history) There were tons of kids roaming the store dressed as Harry Potter or the various other characters. There were games, videos, picture booths, and face painting for the customers. And it wasn’t just the kids, many adults and teenagers could be found as well. The gathering reminded me of the Star Wars hoopla surrounding the movies. Except it was the premiere of a book! In this day and age of computers & the Internet, this worldwide response for an actual hardbound book is extraordinary. The power of passion is amazing when it is sparked by an imaginative concept. And here I was caught unexpectedly in the middle of it.