BOSTON GLOBE (MASSACHUSETTS, USA)

3 January 1999

Harry Potter is taking publishing world by storm

By Stephanie Loer
Globe Correspondent

A children's book phenomenon is occurring. And it's whirling around J.K. Rowling and her book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The literary hoopla began in England, where the book, a first novel written by a mother living on unemployment benefits, came out of nowhere and hit the top of the adult hardcover bestseller list in England. Less than a year after it was published, Rowling's book, written for 8- to 12-year-olds, achieved that unique and distinguished status of being able to delight children and adults alike.

Because the book really does have all the right stuff to make an utterly captivating tale, it won the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, was sold to publishers in eight countries, and netted a $100,000 advance from Scholastic Books for the American edition. That's big money in children's publishing.

This book is hot. And so is its author. She just signed a six-figure contract with Warner Brothers; the studio plans to make the book into a movie, and Rowling will assist in writing the script.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone hit the US book market in September; its sequel will be available in 1999. Seven books are planned in the series. [This article originally said "Harry POPPER"!]

Joanne Rowling, interviewed in New York at the beginning of a three-week US book tour, cannot quite believe one book has changed her life so dramatically. Said Rowling, "I am still stunned that I went literally from being an unknown author on the bread line to having my book at the top of the charts in England."

The idea for Harry and his story came to Rowling in 1990, when she was stuck on a delayed train to London. "Harry as a character came fully formed, as did the idea for his sidekicks, the characters of Ron and Hermione, who is the brains of the threesome," she said. "It started with Harry, then all these characters and situations came flooding into my head. It was an excitement I'd never known before. But it took me six years to write the book."

Rowling, in the meantime, took a teaching job in Portugal, where she married a journalist, had a daughter, divorced her husband, and moved back to Edinburgh in 1993. At the time, she was a single parent and penniless, so she wrote the manuscript on scraps of paper in a local cafe while her three-month old slept at her side.

"It was pretty cold and miserable in the flat, so as soon as Jessica fell asleep in her buggy, we'd head for the cafe and I'd start writing," said Rowling. "That was probably the lowest point in my life. My self-respect was on the floor. I didn't want Jessica to grow up this way. She became my inspiration, and writing about Harry became a safe haven, someplace I could go. So, my daughter and Harry kept me going. I made a vow to myself. In one year I would finish the book and try to get it published. I knew once I got a teaching job, there would be no time for writing. My back was up against the wall. I could not afford the luxury of writer's block, so I wrote with intensity."

When finished, she typed two copies of the manuscript (she couldn't afford photocopies) and sent them to agents.

One of those agents enthusiastically accepted Rowling's story about Harry, which begins when he is orphaned in infancy and deposited on his aunt and uncle's doorstep. For 10 years, Harry is raised in the household of his truly vile relatives; his bedroom is a closet under the stairs. But Harry is unique; he is the surviving son of wizards who were killed by the evil sorcerer, Voldemort. The hero is unaware of his own magical powers until a giant delivers the grant of a scholarship to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and plucks Harry from the clutches of his nasty aunt and uncle. [Error -- no scholarship was awarded to Harry.]

Once at Hogwarts, his life changes forever. Harry begins to hone his magical talents and finds wonderful friends, along with several malcontents out to do him in. As the story unfolds, readers discover Harry has a destiny to fulfill, and it's to rout out an evil hidden within the depths of Hogwarts. With the help of his pals, Hermione, Ron, and the giant Hagrid, along with the guidance of Head Wizard Dumbledore, Harry summons his courage and common sense to discover an old enemy stalking Hogwarts - you guessed it - Voldemort. The three friends combine their magical talents and send the odious sorcerer packing, at least temporarily, in a rousing, completely satisfying denouement.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone received starred reviews for exceptional children's literature in recent issues of School Library Journal and Booklist. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote: "Readers are in for a delightful romp with this award-winning debut from a British author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl."

Harry's story is a joy to read because readers discover a child who is abused and powerless, but when he is given a ticket out of the quagmire, he makes the very best of it.

"The idea that we could have a child who escapes from the confines of the adult world and goes somewhere where he has power, both literally and metaphorically, really appealed to me," Rowling said. "There's always room for a story that can transport readers to another place in which they can thoroughly enjoy themselves."

Asked why the story appeals to adults as well as children, the author responded, "I think some of the reason is that Harry has to accept adult burdens in his life, although he's a child. There's something very endearing about that to kids and adults as well.

"Harry is also an old-fashioned hero," she said. "What I mean by that is - there's enough human frailty in Harry that people of all ages identify with him, but he's also an honorable, admirable person. Harry can only get to a certain point in an adventure by breaking some rules. His particular role in the group [of three friends] is conscience. He will break the rule if he thinks he's doing for the greater good. But he has a fundamental sense of honor, and he learns that choices show more of who one is than abilities."

Rowling also thinks that writing for herself, not an intended audience, adds to the book's appeal. She quickly adds, "That makes me sound very sure of myself, but I had a lot of trouble getting started; I couldn't get the tone right. Then I decided, OK, I'm not going to dumb down this book. I'm going to write a book I would like to read now."

Apparently that is the key to her success. She acknowledges, though, that as her fame and income increased, there were some doubts about how to proceed.

"When I realized I'd been given a contract for seven books, there was a great sense of relief on a practical level, but I had a few weeks of terror," she said. "Could I write the books with the same enthusiasm now that is looking over my shoulder?

"I got through that because I then took the time to figure out where the series was going, plan the plot - really think out what would be going on, and what would be important in each book," she said. "I plotted all seven books in quite a lot of detail. And I realized that the most important thing is - I love writing these books. I don't think anyone could enjoy reading them more than I enjoy writing them."

Currently, Rowling and, her daughter, Jessica, 5, live in a house in Edinburgh. Through all the fanfare and fortune, the author seems to have remained well grounded in reality. "I am just so relieved that I don't have to worry about buying my daughter new clothes or shoes when she outgrows the old ones," she said. Jessica is accompanying her mother on the US book tour.

Stephanie Loer writes about children's books for the Globe.

Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company