JK Rowling and the Commencement at Harvard
Posted by Will Entrekin on June 10, 2008
Only just seeing this: over the weekend (I think), Jo Rowling delivered the commencement address at Harvard. According to the story, some students were happy, but, as Bookslut notes, some others were less than thrilled.
I’m a bit surprised by Jessa Crispin’s ‘entitlement’ comment there; so far as I can tell, Bookslut has never been a big fan of Rowling. Which I find odd: Rowling is the best-selling author in the world and is a woman, which, I would think, flies in the face of the whole “OMG wimmin r dissinfranchyzed and nede are one litterery aword!!11!!” Bookslut is not the only lit blog I’ve seen disparage Rowling (I’ve seen others deliberately call her “JK Potter”), and I think it’s snobbery in the worst way. Much like the snobbery of the quoted Harvard student (though I notice no one mentions the other students quoted, who sounded thrilled to have seen her. Not to mention the ten year olds who skipped school to attend an Ivy League commencement address. I mean, in what alternate reality is it not amazing that kids put down their Gameboys and got their parents to let them skip school so they could see an author? How is this bad for books?).
But what do I know?
Anyway, the commencement is worth reading, if only for the gay wizard joke.
