After midnight

News of the Year | July 2007 | Mark Bergin

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million copies in the United States on July 21 alone

One second after midnight on an otherwise nondescript Saturday morning, millions of readers in English-speaking countries across the globe dove headlong into the final chapter of the decade's most captivating fictional narrative. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in J.K. Rowling's acclaimed series, sold 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the United States on the first day alone.

Fans rushed through the 759-page book to discover the fate of beloved protagonist Harry, whom many literary analysts predicted might die at the story's conclusion. British publisher Bloomsbury invested 10 million pounds (over $20 million) in secure warehouses and security teams to guard against premature spoilers of the series finale. Earlier in the year, a lawyer for American publisher Scholastic sat on the completed manuscript as it traveled on a flight from London to New York.

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December 29, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 48

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