A Proud Tradition

For those of you who thought my last post was a little overly critical, let me just qualify that observation by saying that a) the critique is by no means restricted to Americans, or even westerners, as we all have our comparatively frivolous obsessions all over the world - and b) I wasn't the only one who pointed this comparison out. CNN spent Harry Potter Day talking about both the lines at bookstores and the lines at Iraqi gas stations in such a pointed fashion that I assume the producers there are not incapable of recognizing parallels.

Waiting for books is actually a proud American tradition - one that I have no interest in participating in or disparaging in and of itself. Legend has it that American fans of Charles Dickens would wait on the docks of New York harbor for the ships bearing each edition of Master Humphrey's Clock in hopes of hearing the deckhands shout out the fate of poor little Nell (SPOILER ALERT: She dies). Or so it has been described to me by a fellow purporting to be both my father and Very Knowledgeable in These Things™.