Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

Read an article on Salon this morning about Harry Potter which made me realize that the books are really just one aspect of the Harry Potter universe, and in fact — since the last book is due out this summer — a dwindling aspect of that universe. Written by Rebecca Traister and entitled “Potterpalooza,” the article is about Phoenix Rising, “a four-day [Harry Potter] conference with more than a thousand attendees.” The conference featured dozens of attractions, including speeches and seminars, not to mention numerous bands playing “wizard rock,” which seems to be some sort of Harry Potter-inspired warlock and roll: “The genre’s ur-band, Harry and the Potters, began performing in 2002. Now dozens of acts, including the Moaning Myrtles, the Hinky Punks, Hollow Godric, and the Hermione Crookshanks Experience, play libraries all over the country. For wizard rockers, these late May days are the dawning of their Age of Aquarius, their Woodstock, their summer of love.”

And while such a celebration of fictional characters could be seen as a vindication for the power of books in a digital age, I can’t help but think that this no longer has anything to do with books, J.K. Rowling’s or otherwise. Having begun with mere books, Potter has given birth to an entire subculture spinning out in dozens of directions at once. To say that this is still about Rowling’s words is like saying we enjoy The Rocky Horror Picture Show because of Susan Sarandon’s acting. I mean, when they turn you into an amusement park — as was announced this week — you not only cross the line between art and commerce, but you start charging others to follow. All of this success, instead of being a shining example of the power of books, shows instead how the need for community and interaction — no matter how it’s originally cultivated — can be satisfied by numerous things besides a book.

Salon: Potterpalooza