Conclusion: Sweet Irony (Part Three)

(CONTINUED FROM PART TWO)

Of course, I didn’t get my book there.  Dan did and he informed me that it was like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.  The books came out and suddenly everyone was waving their voucher tickets over their heads, screaming.  Not that this was any different from anywhere else in the city.  My Barnes & Nobles contact informs me that they actually had to close the doors at the Union Square location, infuriating the people outside.  Honest-to-God fights broke out.  Say what you will about New Yorkers, they’re passionate about their children’s literature.

The irony of all this is that I still don’t have a copy, myself.  I always order the British editions and in the past this hasn’t been a problem.  I may get my copy a little later than other people, but it wasn’t until this year that I felt out-of-it.  Now the whole world is reading the book, and I’m left behind.  That’s okay.  It’s my own fault.  I’ll just have to sit on the reference desk at work singing, "LALALALALALA!" whenever anyone mentions a detail from the story.  The nail in the coffin is that Saturday evening, as I was leaving work, my co-worker Warren informs me that there were a bunch of copies of the book in the library’s basement just sitting there.  They’re Express copies.  The kind you can only have out for a week.  Had I but known…

For other Harry Potter party info, you can read the Amy Wachspress piece on buying HP at an independent bookstore.  Monica Edinger has a photo laden selection of her own Manhattan journey.  If anyone else has parties of their own to share, tell me your blog name in my comment section and I’ll add them here.

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