Harry Potter’s Bookshelf

A common ambition of the books I have written is answering the question, “Why are the Harry Potter books so popular?” and my response is always a variation on “It’s the literary artistry that engages and transforms readers that is the real magic of the books.” That answer involves discussing the usual English literature topics like narratological voice and setting, as well as the more bizarre and less well-known devices and story scaffolding that Ms. Rowling uses, like literary alchemy and visio