Want to know some of my favorite words when it comes to Harry Potter? “slavishly thorough and somewhat mind-boggling.” Considering that’s how Rowling herself is describing a new book that chronicles the behind-the-scenes process of bringing Harry Potter from Rowling’s brain to the masses, I’d say I’m sold.
The book in question is JK Rowling: A Bibliography 1997-2013, written by Philip Errington, the director for children’s books at Sotheby’s. It’s thick, and though it’s not out in the states yet The Guardian let a few tidbits out for the world’s pleasure. Among them:
Rowling was sick and tired of Prisoner Of Azkaban by the end of revisions (ironic for me ’cause it’s probably my favorite):
“Finally! I’ve read this book so much I’m sick of it, I never read either of the others over and over again when editing them, but I really had to this time,” writes Rowling in an undated letter to her editor Emma Matthewson about the Prisoner of Azkaban, quoted by Errington in his book. “If you think it needs more work, I’m willing and able, but I do think this draft represents an improvement on the first; the dementors are much more of a presence this time round, I think,” she adds.
Her editor calls PoA a “huge, teetering plot that never quite falls down,” and Rowling continued on with this after that first quote:
“This laptop is too clever for its own good … I am so sick of re-reading this one that I’ll be hard put to smile when it comes to doing public readings from it. But perhaps the feeling will have worn off by next summer…”
Also revealed: Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire was almost called Harry Potter and the Three Champions.
On his efforts for this book, Errington said:
There is a lot of incorrect information out there and this is a chance to set the record straight with detailed research. I’m very fortunate that Bloomsbury let me into their archives, and that I was able to interview key people. This could act as a map for the future … you can see how the Harry Potter series just took off.
And the official Bloomsbury synopsis writes more about its thoroughness:
This will be the first source on Rowling consulted by textual scholars, book dealers and collectors, auction houses, critics and researchers. The aim of the book is to record fact and dispel rumor on the fascinating publishing history of the Harry Potter series.
Personally, this type of thing — well-researched, behind-the-scenes, with actual correspondence from Jo about her thoughts and feelings while writing the books — is one of the kind of things I so frequently crave from Harry Potter in these years post the books’ release. The other is a miniseries. I can’t wait to get my hands on this thing.
(Image via Featureflash/Shutterstock.com)
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