THINK THE SAGA of Harry Potter is incredible? Then consider the rags-to-riches story of the series’ author, J. K. Rowling (b. 1965). Before the overnight success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997; released in the United States in 1998 as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), Rowling was struggling: a single mother in a cramped Edinburgh apartment, she was penniless and living “on the dole” (the British welfare system). But the world fell in love with the bespectacled boy wizard, and the rest is history. Swept up in Pottermania? Take this Rowling quiz to separate the magic of Harry Potter from the Muggle mumbo jumbo.
TRUE OR FALSE?
1. Behind Steven King and Danielle Steele, Rowling is the third-richest author in the world.
2. Rowling’s first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, sold more copies in the first twenty-four hours than any other book in history.
3. Rowling said that one day “on a crowded train, the idea for Harry Potter simply fell into my head.”
4. The Dementors—dark, soul-sucking creatures in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)—were inspired by Rowling’s own experiences with depression.
ANSWERS
1. False. Rowling is the richest: according to Forbes magazine, she is the world’s only billionaire author.
2. False. Although Philosopher’s Stone was a smash hit, the last installment of the series—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—was the fastest-selling book of all time. The day it was released in 2007, more than 11 million copies flew off shelves.
3. True. Delayed for several hours without a pen, Rowling sat while her ideas about Potter “bubbled up.” This was in 1990, seven years before the first book was published.
4. True. In interviews, Rowling has spoken about that struggle and the benefits of seeking counseling.