Ebony's S.O.S.

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 2036

Hi --

Ebony Elizabeth wrote:

> Thanks, Rosemary, for your response to my *long* rant.  I'm saving
> your list of events so that I can sit down with it and my copy of SS.

Rosemary -- I liked your post too.  Very insightful.

> In response to my classmates' assertion that JKR is not writing great
> literature, I've decided this weekend to do my Lit Crit term paper on
> Harry Potter.

Yay!!  Give 'em hell Ebony!  I really despise literary snobbishness!

> If all goes well and my prof sponsors it (not a
> problem), I plan to submit the paper to a conference or two... the
> spring NCTE one comes to mind.  The more English studies professionals
> that write about JKR without being nasty or condenscending, the
> better.

I couldn't agree more.  I've seen this with other literature that I
follow a fair bit.  English prof types always seem to feel that critical
analysis necessitates that they be *critical* & pick *every* detail
apart.  If you're reading this Nancy, you know what I'm referring to!!
The Schafer book appears, from what others have said, to fall into this
category.

> My S.O.S.--
>
> 1)  The only JKR bio I have is the Shapiro one, which we have
> determined is not worth the paper it is printed on.  Where can I find
> good background info *off-line*?  Most English types do not trust
> online sources--my undergrad and grad profs frown/frowned on these.

When I see you next week Ebony, I will be happy to bring copies of the
following if you don't have them: (1) Book magazine spread on JKR
(May/June 2000); Newsweek interview with JKR (July 2000); (3) Times (UK)
interview with her (June 30, 2000); and miscellaneous other interviews.
You will be forced to rely solely on interviews in magazines &
newspapers because there isn't a reliable biography on the market at
this time.  The other thing you could do is request a personal interview
with JKR but . . . . well, this seems unlikely.  <g>

But, all of the ones I can provide you are not solely online sources.  I
would think your profs can't object to using the only secondary sources
available.  I would gather that their objection to online sources is
probably with someone using something like the FAQ on JKR that I'm
writing.  It's gleaned from a variety of different sources, but may or
may not be all that reliable (since your profs have no way of knowing
how reliable or unreliable I, the author of said FAQ, might be).

These interviews that I'm referring to are about as reliable as you're
going to find (short of a personal interview with JKR) -- in each case,
the interviewer spoke directly to JKR (except Book's article but it
squares with all other sources).  The problem with the Shapiro book is
that he didn't take the time to resolve inconsistencies & it appears to
be replete with errors that he or his publishers ignored or didn't
recognize.  Her birthdate is a glaring example -- I've *never* seen an
interview where it's given as anything other than 31 July 1965.  The
fact that he was a year off suggests that he was very very sloppy.  It's
not as though he can say, well the Times interview says 1966.  No.  The
only reason for that particular error was carelessness, rushing to the
printer & shoddy work.

I'm very familiar with all the JKR interviews & such as I have just gone
through them all to make notes for my FAQ.  I do think the 3 I mentioned
are the best sources available & they all agree with one another as to
the basic details & facts.

I wouldn't cite the Shapiro book for *anything* though.

Penny



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