How we fell out of love with JK Rowling

The new JK Rowling book is getting a lukewarm response from the city’s Potter fans.

Gone are the days, it would seem, when, in Mumbai, fans used to stand in queues, waiting for bookstores to open so that they could rush in and grab their copy of the latest Harry Potter.

At least that's the impression one gets if the hype, or lack thereof, surrounding JK Rowling's latest book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is anything to go by. The book, which is a collection of five fairy tales, seems to hold little interest for Mumbai's reading public.

"To me the seven Potter books meant more than this one. I won't go out and buy this book. For me, the Potter series is over and done with, I don't find any need to read this one," says Gayatri Shrikhande.

But city bookstores are hoping that Mumbaikars will comes around and start snapping up the book, whose only claim to fame is that it was mentioned in the last Harry Potter novel.

The Strand bookstore took receipt of 200 copies, but over the weekend they managed to sell only 20. "One of the main reasons for such low sales is the price of the book. It costs Rs500 and is only 140 pages. There is no enthusiasm for this book," says PM Shenvi, manager, Strand bookstore.

The big chain stores, like Crossword have managed to sell about a 1,000 copies, but as Kinjal Shah, category manager – Books, Crossword, says, "It's nowhere near the volume that the Harry Potter books sold at." Both Strand and Crossword, however, are hoping that the coming week will see a spike in sales.

"I think the end of Harry Potter has come," says Potter fan, Kartik Tikku, "I think it's a waste of money going and buying the book."

Indira Rao who is a hardcore Potter fan wasn't even aware of the new book. "The kind of anticipation I had for the previous books is not the same as for this one. But I will read it, whenever I find the time," says Rao, who says that, this time, there will be no queuing for her.