Re-Reading Harry Potter

' Suman Gupta' s book, Re-Reading Harry Potter, should be required reading for anyone who takes the Harry Potter novels seriously. His study will make a major contribution to the already-flourishing scholarship on the Harry Potter series/phenomenon because it is incisive, reflective, and original. Gupta' s major purpose is to understand what constitutes the popular phenomenon of the books and their social and political implications and effects by using a text-to-world methodology. He is critical and most perceptive, pointing out the contradictions and ideological tendencies of the novels with great clarity. His explanation of the Harry Potter phenomenon is most convincing and fits well with his critique of unthinking reading and of elitism that are disturbing forces in modern society which often account for literary bestsellers. ' - Professor Jack Zipes, University of Minnesota, USA

' . . . a closely argued piece about the sinister side of the Potter phenomenon. . . If Gupta is right, the secret of Harry Potter' s success must be that the books offer what we ' unthinkingly' desire, or, worse, that there is a growing tendency towards irrational belief. ' - Times Higher Education Supplement