Product Description

With more than 50,000 copies of the first two editions in print, the popular Muggles and Magic has been substantially revised and updated to feature more exciting, up-to-the-minute information, including a photo essay on the famous Harry Potter-themed retail store, Whimsic Alley; a first-hand account of J.K. Rowling's celebrated August 2006 book reading in New York (with full-color photos); a new section on Harry Potter fans, with an article written by Steve Van Ark, webmaster of the Harry Potter Lexicon and popular speaker at Harry Potter conventions. Edward Kern, author of The Wisdom of Harry Potter (Prometheus Books, 2003) contributes the new introduction. Including this third edition of Muggles and Magic, George Beahm has written more than twenty books, including Passport to Narnia (Hampton Roads, 2005, ISBN 1-57174-465-7) and Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World (Hampton Roads, 2005, ISBN 1-57174-440-1

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #125161 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 377 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Gushing with enthusiasm and admiration, Beahm's compendium of Harry Potter trivia and essays should help tide over fans impatiently waiting for book six to come out. Chapters like "The Real World of J.K. Rowling" (by contributor Stephen McGinty) and "The Magic of Words: A Storyteller's World" vividly recount the history behind the Harry Potter novels and their renowned author. "Although in later years Rowling would have cause to regret her portrayal as 'poverty-stricken single mum makes good,' those stories gave her a profile most first-time authors could only dream about," McGinty wisely observes, but the rest of the book is less even-handed. Beahm is clearly an unalloyed fan, and his chapters on the books and their screen interpretations contain little by way of a critique. This may be just as well for Potter fans, who will appreciate Beahm's cataloging of Potter Web sites and merchandise. The book also includes a 72-page glossary of Potter terms and characters, like "Acid Pops" and "Mortlake," as well as an unofficial guide to Potter-related locations in Britain, such as Rowling's childhood home in Winterbourne and the reptile house at the London Zoo, "where Harry speaks Parseltongue to a snake." Throughout, Beahm pitches the prose right; it's both sophisticated enough to interest adults and lively enough to keep younger fans engaged.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up - Beahm offers a plethora of information, opinions, and facts that revolve around "Harry Potter" and the life of J. K. Rowling. This general-interest guidebook includes sections on two movie adaptations, five books, merchandise and collectibles, and "Harry Potter" Web sites. It also includes more than 200 trivia questions about the series and its creator, and a collection of reviews, essays, and prominent quotes. The alphabetical listing of important people, places, and things introduced in the titles will more than likely be the most sought-after material. Sidebars of related tidbits and facts are scattered throughout. Though interesting, they are distracting and interrupt the narrative flow. A 16-page centerfold of full-color photos as well as black-and-white photographs and illustrations throughout enliven the well-written, interesting text. - Christine McGinty, Newark Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap
"Muggles and Magic" is the first general interest book, resource guide, and reference work for Rowling's millions of fans. Organized in six sections with appendices, this 400-page book is a treasure trove of information and trivia about Harry Potter, Rowling's most famous literary creation, and the phenomenon that surrounds him.

The Real World of J.K. Rowling provides an in-depth look at Rowling herself: a chronology, a biography, a guide to Rowling's England and Scotland, FAQs, a concordance, Harry Potter illustrators, Rowling-related charities, a Harry Potter convention, and more.

A Writer's Life is jam-packed with information for aspiring word wizards, with time-tested advice on getting your book published, the craft of writing, cafes to fuel your creativity, Harry Potter and censorship, and more.

Harry Potter--Screen Magic is an in-depth look at the two movie adaptations, with reviews, cast listings, notable quotes by the cast, and more.

Books offers a book-by-book look at the five Potter novels plus other official, and unofficial, books. A fictional concordance for Muggles and a trivia quiz round out this in-depth section.

Harry Potter Merchandise looks at the numerous tie-in products licensed by Warner Bros., from action figures to wizard cards.

Harry Potter Websites discussess the best that the World Wide Web offers, with capsule reviews, screenshots, and addresses.

The Appendices provide detailed information on Rowling's book editions in the U.S. and the U.K., a list of available films and DVDs, and key collectibles with prices.

Each section features dozens of quotes by and about J.K. Rowling.

Packed with articles, profiles, synopses, and sidebars, "Muggles and Magic" is profusely illustrated with photographys and illustrations, including a special 16-page color photo album with little-seen photos of Rowling and England.

Customer Reviews

An incomplete and lop-sided guide to the world of Harry Potter
As an adult fan of the Harry Potter series, I am fascinated by Ms. Rowling and her talent as a writer which brought this magical world to life. When I purchased 'Muggles and Magic,' I looked forward to reading more about the author and the pop culture surrounding this phenomenon.

After reading Beahm's publication, I have to say that I'm disappointed. Essentially, this book is a collection of articles highlighting Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling facts that have been featured elsewhere. (I.e. newspapers, magazines, online, etc.) While some of the articles have good information about Rowling, there were times where reading them made me feel uncomfortable. I wondered how Ms. Rowling, a famously private person who is not afraid to speak up to defend her character, would feel about the clippings that delve into her painful past. She makes a point to dissuade such stories on her personal Web page, and reading them in this "fan" book seemed more like reading gossip than fact.

Other articles in the book simply have fraudulent and outdated information that Beahm hasn't bothered to research and update, such as that Dan Radcliffe has bowed out of all of the films after 'Goblet of Fire' (he hasn't, and is telling the press he's signed on for 'Order of the Phoenix'), and that J.K. Rowling's Web site doesn't feature a F.A.Q. (it does, here: http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/faq.cfm).

Another problem I had with this book was the higgledy-piggledy way it seems to have been put together. There's no real rhyme or reason to the selections, and the collection doesn't flow but rather jerks, such as from an article about owning owls as pets to another about Joanne's involvement in a cancer charity.

Beahm is clearly a fan and I can tell he had fun putting this little book of Potter/Rowling odds and ends together. Had a little more research been done and a bit more time spent on fashioning the information together, this would be a fleshed-out companion worthy of the world of Harry Potter.

Good Book
I found this book to be a bit outdated, but nonetheless helpful. Written in 2004, the book does not touch upon any of the new concepts such as HBP Book 6, but this guide is a nice review to the first books in the series.

I personally consider Breahm and author Daniel Lawrence of the new ULTIMATE UNOFFICIAL HALF-BLOOD PRINCE BOOK 6 TRIVIA BOOK to be the top sources of HP info for fans. I would suggest reading this guide and then immediately reading the best-selling ULTIMATE BOOK 6 TRIVIA BOOK by Daniel Lawrence to gain even more insights and knowledge on the series and Movie 4 GOF.

No such edition exists.
I am the author and this edition doesn't exist -- it never has. At one point, there was a plan to issue a run in hardback for libraries, but that plan was never put into effect. So don't go looking for a hardback edition of this book through used booksellers because you'd be searching in vain.

PS: Amazon.com's policies require that the author "review" his book by giving it from 1 to 5 stars. I believe the author should have his say about his own book on Amazon, but there should be an option to write about it without having to give it a ranking. It has nothing to do with being a "curious bit of self-promotion" (as one reader put it) because there's nothing curious about it, and it's bad self-promotion besides. Amazon is forcing the issue and what can any author do except give himself the benefit of the doubt?

That said, if an author does write a book, he usually feels (as I do) that he's given it his best effort and, at least, in his mind it should rate pretty high on the scale. As to what you can believe on an Amazon review, I have always felt a professionally written review (from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY or LIBRARY JOURNAL) is always fair and impartial, and usually consistent, whereas fan "reviews" (in fact, opinions) vary wildly and are therefore suspect.