The midnight line for HP7 at Prairie Lights extended out the door and wound all through the shop. At first, it was drunks—summer school’s still in session, unfortunately—already reeking of vodka, and hollering from across the street “Hey! It’s HarryPotterr!” Meanwhile, someone ahead of us was photographing the line. (Usually, he just held his camera above his head and snapped pictures of the people in front of him. By the time he got to the counter he had more than a dozen photos of the same people shifting their feet.) More obnoxious even than he, however, was a prematurely balding guy five spots ahead of us whose voice was a carrying whine. “I’ve heard,” he told his friends, “that Rowling…” and he proceeded to explain some theory about how the plot ends. Then, their conversation turned to the recent movie. “Daniel Radcliffe’s horrible,” he said, “But Hermione, I like her!”
His friend asked, “You’ve got the hots for Hermione?”
“Not now,” he lied, “But in a couple of years….” I wanted to kick him in the shins, not for perving on Emma Watson (anyway, it’s been done), but for believing that projecting her into the future somehow made the perving acceptable. It’s like creating a fantasy that can’t be enjoyed without creating another fantasy that allows you to enjoy it. What a dick.
Sigh. K’s reading it first. So no spoilers, or you’re banned!
I waited in line with B and a friend of hers last night in Oxford. It was a pretty wild scene (There are about 5 book stores within two city blocks). I might blog about it later.
by JH—Jul 21, 05:43 AM
Did they have magic parties and stuff? The big box bookstore near here had a party like that, as did a small indie (mostly used) bookstore, but PL was so full the only thing happening was buying. I don’t much like lines and wondered whether we shouldn’t‘ve just gone to buy it at the supermarket; but the line went quickly. Too bad the stores (stores ≠ Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.—they can giveitaway, giveitaway, giveitaway now for all I care) had to markdown the price as much as they did. The owner of the small indie was complaining in the local paper how she was gonna lose money….
by greg—Jul 21, 08:54 AM
If by magic parties you mean dressing up, playing instruments, blocking traffic in the city centre to the point that the police had to come in, then yeah, most definitely.
by JH—Jul 21, 11:07 AM
Police? That’s more exciting than our little consumerist adventure.
Can I just say, BTW, that I don’t know quite what to do with myself while K’s reading? I want to be reading, and can’t really focus much on anything but that desire….
by greg—Jul 21, 05:18 PM
how much did you buy it for?
whereas the small little indie we bought it from did mark it down 10 or 15%, we certainly didn’t get the 30-40% that some of the big places were marking it down for…
and, it seems, just from my having been there today and seen the list of orders, that they didn’t do too badly. of course, they didn’t move the volume that the B&N 1 1/2 down the road did… but they probably moved somewhere between 75-150.
can you link to that piece? does she mention economics… as in, is the 10% markdown price the 7 dollars or so that the bookstore would’ve made?
by Jeremy—Jul 22, 07:15 PM
i know, i know, 75-150 huge variable
oh and you can read my post, at last, and maybe adopt a more equitable reading plan?
though given ours it doesn’t seem like k will be too long with the book in hand before you get it.
by Jeremy—Jul 22, 07:19 PM
I think we bought it at a 25% markdown at Prairie Lights. I’m sure they moved 300+.
Here’s the indie owner’s lament. (She, BTW, marked down 40% if you dressed up like HP, with an opening night markdown of 25%, I think.)
by greg—Jul 22, 08:10 PM