About book Harry, A History: The True Story Of A Boy Wizard, His Fans, And Life Inside The Harry Potter Phenomenon (2008)
I give this book a "D" for Dreadful. "Harry, A History", despite it's name, is NOT a story of Harry Potter or his fandom, but rather of Melissa Anelli's fandom life. There were some interesting parts to it; I loved reading the section about JKR and the fight to get published. The author does have an engaging style that makes the content throughout the book seem more interesting. The rest of it though? Parts of it were self-absorbed drivel by someone who apparently has lived an extremely privileged life (I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat in the thrilling scene where the post-college author fights with her mother about doing the dishes and actually getting a job after they paid for a four year education at one of the more expensive colleges in America.) "Harry, A History" mostly just chronicles Anelli's accomplishments, with only a bit of fandom history and culture included. It really was only a small part. There is a little on the rise of wizard rock, focusing on the shipping wars and making it seem like they engulfed fandom at the time (not true - a good portion of fandom just looked at this as hilarious yet sad fodder for Fandom Wank), and a little bit on a couple of conventions, but that's it. Fandom seems to revolve entirely around a couple of websites and wizard rock, without looking at other ways that fandom interacted beyond the ones that Anelli was personally involved in. If you've ever wanted example of the fandom life of a BNF, this is a good one to read. One sees how interconnected they all were and the adoration they receive from other members of fandom. If you want an actual history of fandom, I'm sure there are some great wiki articles on it or something because you won't find it here. Oh my Gallifrey, this is such an amazing book. Well-written, capable of inducing emotions from tears to anxiety to elation. This is exactly the book I was looking for-not being part of the fandom when the books were being published makes me wonder what it was like. This book is an insiders account of the years when Harry Potter was still being written. This is a wonderful book, and I would recommend it to any Harry Potter fan as required reading after finishing the series.
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Beautiful book!! Everyone who likes Harry Potter should read this!
—Amijare1
Was really nice to get the backround from the fans point of view.
—Mhizzle
This book is a MUST for any die hard Harry Potter fan.
—kbeeles
