Title: The books that lived: J.K. Rowling and the magic of storytelling
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2015, vol. 41, iss. 1, pp. [195]-212
Extent
[195]-212
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2015-1-12
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/134772
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This essay addresses the question of "what makes a bestseller?" It seeks to come to a better understanding of the various factors that contribute significantly to the outstanding popular appeal and commercial success of bestsellers, using J.K. Rowling's fiction as a case study. The reception of her work in quality media allows an exploration of Rowling's phenomenal success with the Harry Potter series, and invites a comparison with the success of her next two novels, The Casual Vacancy (2012) and The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), both written for adult readers. The context that the essay draws on is provided by literary theories about bestsellers and their features, rather than the commercial/marketing context of the bestseller. Also commenting on the influence of reviews on bestselling success, and the contested literary status of bestsellers, the essay hopes to shed some light on what constitutes "the magic of storytelling" in bestseller success.
References
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[27] Keller, Julia (2013) "Review: 'The Cuckoo's Calling' by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)". Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2013. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-09/features/ct-prj-0811-jk-rowling-cuckoos-calling-robert-galb-20130809 8 March 2014.
[28] Kerridge, Jake (2013) "JK Rowling's Crime Novel: The Verdict". The Telegraph, 15 July 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10179626/JK-Rowlings-crime-novel-the-verdict.html 18 February 2015.
[29] Lawson, Mark (2013) "The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith". The Guardian, 18 July 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/18/cuckoos-calling-robert-galbraith-jk-rowlingreview 29 January 2015.
[30] Losowsky, Andrew (2012) "'The Casual Vacancy' Review: JK Rowling's Long-Awaited New Book". The Huffington Post, 27 Sept. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/thecasual-vacancy-review_n_1917058.html 1 March 2015.
[31] Miller, Laura J. (2000) "The Best-Seller List as Marketing Tool and Historical Fiction". Book History (3), 286–304. | DOI 10.1353/bh.2000.0012
[32] Moir, Jan (2012) "Where's the Magic in this Tale of Middle-Class Monsters?" Daily Mail, 26 Sept. 2012. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2209165/J-K-Rowlings-The-Casual-Vacancyreview.html 21 March 2014.
[33] Nel, Philip (2005) "Is There a Text in This Advertising Campaign?: Literature, Marketing, and Harry Potter". The Lion and the Unicorn 29 (2), 236–267.
[34] Resnicow, Herbert (1994) "Rules for the Classic Whodunit". Writer, 107 (8). http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9407131141/rules-classic-whodunit 18 January 2014.
[35] Rowling, J.K. (1997) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury.
[36] Rowling, J.K. (1998) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury.
[37] Rowling, J.K. (2000) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury.
[38] Rowling, J.K. (2007) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury.
[39] Rowling, J.K. (2012) The Casual Vacancy. London: Little, Brown and Company.
[40] Stockbridge, Frank Parker (1931) "What Are the 'Popular' Books—and Why?" The English Journal 20 (6), 441–449. | DOI 10.2307/803766
[41] Sutherland, John (2007) Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[42] Tait, Theo (2012) "The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling – Full Review". The Guardian, 28 Sept. 2012. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/27/jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-review 20 March 2014.
[43] Tilley, Carol L. (2013) "Children's Print Culture". In Dafna Lemish (ed.) The International Routledge Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media, 87–94. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415783682/ 07 Feb 2015.
[44] Ulin, David (2012) "'Casual Vacancy' Fails to Conjure Harry Potter's Magic". Los Angeles Times, 26 Sept. 2012. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/26/news/la-jc-jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-20120926 21 February 2014.
[45] Waldman, Katy (2013) "Private 'I'". Slate, 16 July 2013. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/07/the_cuckoo_s_calling_by_j_k_rowling_or_robert_galbraith_reviewed.html 29 March 2014.
[46] Winerip, Michael (1999) "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". The New York Times, 14 Feb. 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/02/14/reviews/990214.14childrt.html 13 March 2015.
[2] Bergman, Kerstin (2013) "Genre-Hybridization – a Key to Hyper-Bestsellers?" Akademisk Kvarter 7 (12), 106–118.
[3] Bloom, Clive (2008) Bestsellers: Popular Fiction Since 1900. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
[4] Bolonik, Kera (2000) "A List of Their Own". Salon.com, 16 Aug. 2000. http://www.salon.com/2000/08/16/bestseller/ 17 Feb. 2014.
[5] Brown, Stephen (2002) "Marketing for Muggles: The Harry Potter Way to Higher Profits". Business Horizon 45 (1), 6–14. | DOI 10.1016/S0007-6813(02)80004-0
[6] Colbert, David (2001) The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Fact. Lumina Press.
[7] Corrigan, Maureen (2013) "The Only Surprise In Rowling's 'Cuckoo's Calling' Is Its Author". NPR Books, 18 July 2013. http://www.npr.org/2013/07/18/202732292/the-only-surprise-inrowlings-cuckoos-calling-is-the-author 14 March 2015.
[8] Craven, Peter (2012) "The Casual Vacancy". The Age, 7 Oct. 2012. http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/the-casual-vacancy-20121006-2763e.html 21 March 2014.
[9] Dawson, Paul (2013) The Return of the Omniscient Narrator: Authorship and Authority in Twenty-First Century Fiction. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
[10] Eccleshare, Julia (2002) "The Publishing of a Phenomenon". Guide to the Harry Potter Novels. London: Continuum, 9–11.
[11] Farr, Emma-Victoria (2012) "JK Rowling: Casual Vacancy Tops Fiction Charts". The Telegraph, 3 Oct. 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9584404/JK-Rowling-Casual-Vacancy-tops-fiction-charts.html 10 March 2015.
[12] Finch, Charles (2013) "The Cuckoo's Calling". USA Today, 24 July 2013. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/07/24/the-cuckoos-calling/2581907/ 20 February 2015.
[13] Fitzsimmons, Rebekah (2012) "Testing the Tastemakers: Children's Literature, Bestseller Lists, and the 'Harry Potter Effect'". Children's Literature 40, 78–107. | DOI 10.1353/chl.2012.0002
[14] Galbraith, Robert (2013) The Cuckoo's Calling. London: Sphere.
[15] Geier, Thom (2013) "The Cuckoo's Calling". Entertainment Weekly, 19 July 2013. http://www.ew.com/article/2013/07/19/cuckoos-calling-book 10 March 2015.
[16] Gleick, Elizabeth (1999) "The Wizard of Hogwarts". TIME, 12 April 1999, 61.
[17] Grossman, Lev (2007) "Harry Potter's Last Adventure". TIME, 28 June 2007. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1645771,00.html 10 March 2015.
[18] Grossman, Lev (2012) "J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy: We've Read It, Here's What We Think". TIME, 27 Sept. 2012. http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/27/j-k-rowlings-the-casual-vacancy-weve-read-it-heres-what-we-thought/ 11 March 2015.
[19] Hall, James W. (2012) Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers. New York: Random House.
[20] Hand, Elizabeth (2007) "Harry's Final Fantasy: Last Time's a Charm". The Washington Post, 22 July 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101025.html 11 March 2015.
[21] Harvey, John (1953) "The Content Characteristics of Best-Selling Novels". Public Opinion Quarterly 17(1), 91–114. | DOI 10.1086/266441
[22] "JK Rowling Revealed as Author of The Cuckoo's Calling" (2013). BBC, 14 July 2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-23304181 8 March 2015.
[23] Kakutani, Michiko (2007) "An Epic Showdown as Harry Potter is Initiated into Adulthood". The New York Times, 19 July 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/books/19potter.html 15 February 2015.
[24] Kakutani, Michiko (2012) "Darkness and Death, No Magic to Help: 'The Casual Vacancy' by J.K. Rowling". The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/books/book-review-the-casual-vacancy-by-j-k-rowling.html?_r=0 11 February 2015.
[25] Kakutani, Michiko (2013) "A Murder is Solved, a Sleuth is Born". The New York Times, 17 July 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/books/in-j-k-rowlings-cuckoos-calling-modeldies-but-why.html?_r=0 11 February 2015.
[26] Kaveney, Roz (2013) "Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith (AKA JK Rowling)". The Independent, 19 July 2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-review-the-cuckoos-calling-by-robert-galbraith-aka-jk-rowling-8720530.html 9 February 2015.
[27] Keller, Julia (2013) "Review: 'The Cuckoo's Calling' by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)". Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2013. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08-09/features/ct-prj-0811-jk-rowling-cuckoos-calling-robert-galb-20130809 8 March 2014.
[28] Kerridge, Jake (2013) "JK Rowling's Crime Novel: The Verdict". The Telegraph, 15 July 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10179626/JK-Rowlings-crime-novel-the-verdict.html 18 February 2015.
[29] Lawson, Mark (2013) "The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith". The Guardian, 18 July 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/18/cuckoos-calling-robert-galbraith-jk-rowlingreview 29 January 2015.
[30] Losowsky, Andrew (2012) "'The Casual Vacancy' Review: JK Rowling's Long-Awaited New Book". The Huffington Post, 27 Sept. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/thecasual-vacancy-review_n_1917058.html 1 March 2015.
[31] Miller, Laura J. (2000) "The Best-Seller List as Marketing Tool and Historical Fiction". Book History (3), 286–304. | DOI 10.1353/bh.2000.0012
[32] Moir, Jan (2012) "Where's the Magic in this Tale of Middle-Class Monsters?" Daily Mail, 26 Sept. 2012. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2209165/J-K-Rowlings-The-Casual-Vacancyreview.html 21 March 2014.
[33] Nel, Philip (2005) "Is There a Text in This Advertising Campaign?: Literature, Marketing, and Harry Potter". The Lion and the Unicorn 29 (2), 236–267.
[34] Resnicow, Herbert (1994) "Rules for the Classic Whodunit". Writer, 107 (8). http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9407131141/rules-classic-whodunit 18 January 2014.
[35] Rowling, J.K. (1997) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury.
[36] Rowling, J.K. (1998) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury.
[37] Rowling, J.K. (2000) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury.
[38] Rowling, J.K. (2007) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury.
[39] Rowling, J.K. (2012) The Casual Vacancy. London: Little, Brown and Company.
[40] Stockbridge, Frank Parker (1931) "What Are the 'Popular' Books—and Why?" The English Journal 20 (6), 441–449. | DOI 10.2307/803766
[41] Sutherland, John (2007) Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[42] Tait, Theo (2012) "The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling – Full Review". The Guardian, 28 Sept. 2012. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/27/jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-review 20 March 2014.
[43] Tilley, Carol L. (2013) "Children's Print Culture". In Dafna Lemish (ed.) The International Routledge Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media, 87–94. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415783682/ 07 Feb 2015.
[44] Ulin, David (2012) "'Casual Vacancy' Fails to Conjure Harry Potter's Magic". Los Angeles Times, 26 Sept. 2012. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/26/news/la-jc-jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-20120926 21 February 2014.
[45] Waldman, Katy (2013) "Private 'I'". Slate, 16 July 2013. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/07/the_cuckoo_s_calling_by_j_k_rowling_or_robert_galbraith_reviewed.html 29 March 2014.
[46] Winerip, Michael (1999) "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". The New York Times, 14 Feb. 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/02/14/reviews/990214.14childrt.html 13 March 2015.