Maybe it’s the rainy, windy, generally raw Southern California weather, maybe I’m in a grey mood, but, regardless of the reason, I am just going to say it: if you are a grown-up who reads the Harry Potter books, you should be embarrassed.  You should be really embarrassed.  There are way too many books–good, bad, great, awful–written for adults out there; nobody over the age of 12 needs to read fantasy novels aimed at children.

Look, Harry Potter is great for kids.  I love to see whipper-snappers crack books instead of fiddling with video-game consoles.  The books in the series are well-written and beguiling and all that (yes, I’ve looked), and their existence will probably create a lot of dedicated new readers.  Bless you, J.K. Rowling.  But once a reader becomes a grown-up, s/he needs to read grown-up books, whether that means Dan Brown or Shakespeare or Keynes or whatever.  Otherwise we continue turning into a nation of children which does things like re-elect George W. Bush.  Ever notice how the HP and W eras coincide?  Coincidence?  I THINK NOT.

-TGR