Posted on 07/13/2005 5:20:13 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
ROSENDALE, N.Y. (AP) - A drug store accidentally sold a copy of the latest Harry Potter book to a woman ahead of Saturday's strict release time, but the customer said she will return it.
Mandy Muldoon said she was shopping with her 9-year-old son when she spotted a stack of the much-anticipated books on a shelf and purchased one. Christine Ekblom, a manager at the upstate New York pharmacy, said she believed it was the only copy sold.
"They were pulled off an hour after they were put on the shelves," Ekblom said. "It was a mistake."
The book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," has been shrouded in secrecy and its debut has been highly orchestrated to enable everyone - readers and reviewers, alike - to crack it open all at once. It's the sixth in J.K. Rowling's seven-book fantasy series on the young wizard.
Fourteen books were accidentally sold Thursday at a grocery store in Canada, but a judge ordered the customers not to talk about the book, copy it, sell it or even read it before its official release.
Muldoon's husband said the family would return the book to the publisher, though his stepson, Sylum Mastropaolo, admitted reading about two pages.
"We're going to do the right thing," Mike Muldoon said. "We don't want to ruin it for other kids and take away from the experience of everyone reading it together."
Kyle Good, a Scholastic publishing spokeswoman, said the company was not aware of any other early sales in the United States. The company said Sylum would get a copy Saturday along with a gift pack.
Were they even allowed to look at it on the shelf?
GOOD GRIEF, people.
It's a book. Let's get some perspective.
Some people will do anything to get their name on the AP wire.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Imagine:
You buy the book.
Judge "orders" you not to read it or discuss it until Saturday.
Your reaction:
Judge, your order is not lawful or enforcable, get over it.
It is NOT illegal for me to READ this book NOW!!!!!!!!
Your saying otherwise does NOT make it so!!!!!!!!!
This is an actual case of censorship but the Potter geeks all support it.
Let me check my worry list this week,
1. terrorism
2. rat/spin
3. making a living
1,987. A harry potter book being sold early.
>> Judge "orders" you not to read it or discuss it until
>> Saturday.
It's nice to see our legal system taking care of such "VITAL" issues.
It's apparently Canada's legal system, since the books were sold there.
Oh-my-God! Obviously the end of the world as we know it.
Look...I have a hard time finishing a book in 3 months that runs 400 pages and I'm suppossed to believe that kids are REALLY reading 600-700 page Harry Potter books?
Suburban mother cult alert.
Canada's legal system. It'll work, too. They're sheep up there.
A similar pre-release sale happened 'accidentally' to a previous HP release.
This seems suspiciously habitual, and it does make for free PR news.
I guess I have more to worry about. It came out 89,432 on my list. :)
Accidentally, on purpose.
Create the controversy and watch the dollars flow in.
Why do we bother? Why do we bother? Dear God, why do we bother?
"Suburban mother cult alert"...LOL!
I know what you mean, but I have a young cousin who is totally obsessed with these books.
She does read them, and I think anything that gets kids reading is probably a good thing.
I don't understand the attraction of Harry Potter, but oh well.
When I am king of the world, I will declare that if you don't want "pre-release" accidents to happen, DON'T SHIP THE F'NG BOOKS.
Who gives a f&@*??!?
The thing that surprises me is how many adults actually read the thing and actually dress up like the characters to go to parties & such.
They should be glad the children got an early start reading the thing after all anything to get a kid to read is good, right?
LOL! They need to get a grip!
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