I don’t understand all the hubbub, but there’s a major-ish uproar about the infamous Michiko Kakutani’s NYT review today of Harry Potter VII.

The review, by Michiko Kakutani, appeared in the newspaper’s online version overnight, ahead of the official release of the eagerly awaited “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at 0001 British Summer Time on Saturday or 2301 GMT on Friday night.

Rowling, who has amassed a personal fortune from her popular tales of the boy wizard, responded in a terse statement.

“I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children,” she said.

I haven’t read Kakutani’s review so I can’t say whether there are any real spoilers or not, but there’s no real reason for Rowling (or Scholastic) to get their panties in a bunch over it. Here’s why: A) the review is timely (and generally good from my understanding); B) kids aren’t going to read the review; C) if they want to avoid spoilers, adults aren’t going to read the review; D) people are going to buy the book either way, it’s review proof.

General, Books