<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Indispensible Potter Companion!
Review: Every time I open this book, I find another nugget of information. Easy to read and well-organized, Muggles and Magic tells the reader everything he or she ever wanted to know about J. K. Rowling and the world of Harry Potter, and then some. I only hope that George Beahm will consider putting together a follow-up volume after Books 6 and 7 are published!
Rating: 
Summary: A Splendid Companion
Review: First off, this book is exactly what it claims to be: a general resource guide and reference book focusing on JK Rowling and the phenomenon surrounding the Harry Potter books. It is not a book that focuses on spoilers, speculation, or inside knowledge of future Harry Potter novels or movies. Anyone looking for that sort of information will not find it here; however, someone interested in in-depth background information on Rowling, the writing of the first several Harry Potter books, and the reactions to her books and the movies should definitely pick up this companion.Beahm divides his book into comprehensive sections and includes information from various sources: interviews, online chats, broadcasts, articles, and anything else he could get his hands on. Some of the information is repeated in more than one section, but Beahm warns the reader of this beforehand and is completely honest and correct as to why he's done this: in some cases, he needs to repeat information, particularly as this companion isn't necessarily meant to be read through from front to back. Being rather a Potterphile, I've read a lot of extra information on Rowling and the various peripheral events and reactions to her and her works, and Beahm has managed to collect more of the interesting and important information in one place. He's even managed to provide me with several intriguing bits of new information about Rowling and the books. Beahm also gives the curious American reader a fairly comprehensive comparison of the US and UK versions of the books, going into a short discussion about the illustrations and illustrators as well as the performers for the audio CDs. He even provides us with pictures of the children's, adult (UK), and movie-inspired versions of the covers for each book. In fact, Beahm provides his readers with numerous pictures of Rowling, stills from the movies, screenshots of various interesting Potter-related websites, and all kinds of merchandise. He's even tucked in a few color photos of movie locations and adorable little owls. The surprising depth and breadth of Potter-and-Rowling-related phenomena is one of the things that makes this book an excellent companion (Beahm obviously can't possibly cover everything in minute detail; he does, however, do a wonderful job of giving better-than-general coverage in the nearly 400 pages of my copy). I wasn't expecting as much new information as I got, nor did I expect to read about so many different facets of the Rowling/Potter phenomenon. Hooray for being pleasantly surprised! Another thing that makes this book an excellent companion is its readability: Beahm's writing is intelligent and descriptive, and while he is obviously a fan of Rowling and Potter, he is also unafraid of bringing up a few interesting criticisms of the works or their tie-ins. The sections in this companion are clearly defined, and the Table of Contents is comprehensive and detailed, making things much easier on the reader who doesn't want to spend all afternoon thumbing through this companion in an effort to find out one small bit of information. Beahm even includes a great trivia section and reviews of merchandise and Potter-related fansites. My only gripes with this companion are the sidebars (I found several of them distracting; they interfered with my reading by interrupting the visual flow of several pages) and the fact that Beahm appears to have gotten one or two small bits in his glossary and important terms section slightly wrong. However, I doubt that anybody but a rabid Potterphile would notice these minor issues, so if you're into Potter and want more information about everything surrounding JK Rowling and Harry Potter, I would definitely recommend this book. It's worth its price just for having several of Rowling's more interesting quotes and the trivia quiz all in one place -- not to mention everything else you get!
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have Book for Potter Fans!
Review: George Beahm's "Unofficial Companion" to the Harry Potter novels is a real treat for Potter fans. It's wide-ranging and exhaustive and beautifully produced with lots of photos and marvelously winsome illustrations by noted fantasist Tim Kirk. It's a book you can pick up and open to any page and be assured of an enjoyable read. Whether you're learning about "The Real World of Joanne Rowling" or sampling movie reviews, checking out alternate covers or marveling at the wealth of Potter-related merchandise, this book will astound and delight. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A Ten Year Old's Perspective
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. It had lots of useful information about J.K. Rowling in the large biography, and I finally found out what the J.K. stood for. But my favorite part by far was the Muggle's guide to Harry Potter. It had a lot of stuff I didn't remember, and new stuff I didn't know about. The Guide was interesting and full of information that I was looking for, such as how many knuts equal a sickle, and how much it costs to ride the Knight Bus. So basically it was a very original book.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive, useful and well organized
Review: I've been a Harry Potter fan for about six years, and a member of the online fandom for just about four, and this is the most useful printed resource I've seen for fans. Full disclosure here - I'm currently an admin with FictionAlley.org, a consultant for HPEducationFanon.org's on Harry Potter conference organization and an editor at the-leaky-cauldron.org (and occasionally work with Lexicon Steve at the HP-Lexicon.org). George Beahm has a fantastic overview of the best sites for Harry Potter information, and the format and organization make that information accessable to the newer fan, or to the fan who's just realised that he or she is interested in discussing and theorizing about JK Rowling's books. If you want to find a forum to talk about the title of Book Six (Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince) then you're now able to refresh your memories about the first five books through the comprehensive "index" in this guidebook, and then follow the links in the back of the book to a selection of discussion forums - you can choose the one that matches your tastes, personality and interests the best. There are online resources, like the Lexicon, that have a lot of the information contained in this book, but you can't carry the Lexicon around. And I haven't seen another book with as much information about the different editions of the Harry Potter books, or as comprehensive a guide to the merchandise. Also, as I'm a fan of discussion forums and participating with other fans in working through JKR's clues and hints, I find it all to the good that Beahm doesn't push theories or speculation on the reader; he gives you the information you need, and may want to use to think about the books on your own or with other fans.
Rating:
Summary: Great Companion Piece
Review: Muggles and Magic is a great companion piece for anyone who is a big fan of both the Harry Potter books and the movies. After reading it, I was able to impress my companions at a viewing of the third movie with fun facts they did not know. I especially enjoyed the Notable and Quotable sections. The Real World of J. K. Rowling contains quotes from Rowling on a variety of subjects, Film Quips contains descriptions of some of the characters and quotes from the actors who play them, and On Writing and Publishing contains mostly quotes from Rowling about writing. The Fictional Concordance would be especially useful to someone who has seen the movies but not read the books; the Harry Potter Merchandise section takes a hopeless stab at listing the many Harry Potter tie-in items. You can test your own knowledge of the world of Harry Potter by taking the book's Final Exam. A highlight for me was having well-known Tolkien artist Tim Kirk's charming sketches livening up the pages.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Peek Into the Writing Life
Review: Muggles and Magic is a light, yet extensive, entertaining romp through the world of Harry Potter and author Rowling. And by "world" I mean to include the muggle world of readers and movie-watchers like you and me.
Most fascinating is the collection of notable quotes, reviews, essays, and behind-the-book/scenes stories you can find on the subjects of writing and storytelling, book publishing, and the author's writing life. Essays on the literary landscape and the genre and other fantasy writers put the books into perspective. In this way, this book doubles as a guide to the writing life, from creativity to publication, hopefully inspiring readers who already have discovered the joys of reading through Rowling's remarkable world, to also discover the joys of writing and publishing. Expect to be mightily entertained by the essay Harry Potter Ripped Off, and to turn on your philosophical mind in the essay on banning and censorship.
Movie fans can look to a shorter section on movie magic, and some photos of movie-making locations, but M&M on the whole focuses on the HP books and resulting phenomenon, giving a written making-of feature for the books similar to what you might expect on a DVD for a movie. A section on HP merchandise and collectibles would be helpful only to the beginning collector, and can be ignored by others. A Muggle's Guide to Harry Potter features an encyclopedia of Harry Potter terms which may be helpful to new readers of HP but is just a bit of fun to dedicated fans who know such things backwards and forwards. An essay on owl habitat, care, and rights is a nice "extra" addition, while the book's color photo middle section is peppered with rich color photos of different breeds of owls to fire the imagination.
My only real complaint about the book is that I found it a little confusing, with myriad formats, perspectives, and subjects covered within each section, with some overlap. Even so, it is a fun read. In fact, with such a varied and fun format, M&M would make a perfect companion for standing in line to read and entertain while counting down to the next book's release time.
Rating:
Summary: Best book on Rowling and Potter
Review: The inspirational story of JK Rowling is the center of this fun and informative reference guide to the life of Rowling and the Harry Potter world and it is without question the most well-written, best organized and most entertaining of the Potter guides currently available. Many interviews and little known info about the author are the best features of this tome which is quite well-researched and encyclopedically informative. While it does delve into the life of Rowling, it avoids sensationalistic tabloid niggling and concentrates on the rags to riches story of an author who came from impoverished circumstances to create the world's foremost fictional character in nearly a century. I truly enjoyed this book and it is highly recommended for any Potter fan, or for anyone who has dreams of becoming an author. Rowling's story is quite inspirational.
Rating:
Summary: Great Companion Book for Harry Potter Fans
Review: This book is a great companion piece to the Harry Potter novels. If you love the Harry Potter stories, you will certainly enjoy this book. It is full of interesting facts and background on the Harry Potter phenomenon. I especially enjoyed the information on J.K. Rowling. Since she rarely gives interviews, I was unaware of her life story and how she came to write the Harry Potter novels. Her story from a struggling writer to one of the most successful authors in history is inspiration. Much like the Harry Potter novels themselves, it will inspire the reader to pursue their dreams with conviction. The information about the book publishing was also interesting, especially the facts and pictures related to the UK releases. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It made me want to pick up the first Harry Potter novel and start reading the series again.
Rating: 
Summary: not quite up to snuff
Review: While the author does a decent job summarizing someone else's work, the look and content of this title is a clear attempt to cash in on the popularity of the books and films. Within its pages, you'll find reproductions of "Teen Beat" style magazine covers featuring the movies' stars, and quickly see that the material covered is far from comprehensive. A much better choice for a book of this nature is Fionna Boyle's "A Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World," also available through amazon.com.
<< 1 >>
|
