English - The Mother Tongue And Her Unruly Kids

I'm only about eight chapters into my copy of the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so I'm not going to write any sort of review here. Besides, I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone. But I will say that this book is exciting - I never would have dreamed that Harry was really Hermione's twin brother and the son of Darth Vader, or that Ron would end up singing in a transvestite bar in Charing Cross, billed as Luscious Lulu!

I wonder if mankind has ever seen anything quite like this whole Harry Potter thing. The other night, as the clock counted down to that midnight hour when credit cards would magically turn cash into bookshelf-busting tomes of witchcraft and wizardry, people all over the world pulled on their Severus Snape costumes and practiced their best Alan Rickman scowls at festive Harry Potter book release parties.