Minute Particulars   Saturday, June 28, 2003   Is Potter-mania a
sign that we've lowered our expectations for our kids (or simply
lowered our punches when reviewing something so popular)? This
article (via A&L Daily) claims that: Since it began, Potter-
mania has represented a cultural infantilism, that only grows as
the years go by. It is about what we expect from our kids, our
books, our value system and ourselves. Whatever happens in The
Order of the Phoenix, the story of our obsession with Harry
Potter is unlikely to have a happy ending. I think there are
some good points here, but I also think we should be careful
about assuming that, 1) popularity is a sign of a lowering of
standards 2) a good book is necessarily a difficult book I've
only read the first Harry Potter and don't remember it enough to
comment on whether it represents a lowering of literary
standards; but I do wonder if some of the talk about a lowering
of standards might be a reflection of a disdain for what becomes
popular and, conversely