LONDON (AP) — British
bookshops opened their doors early Thursday and some grown-up Harry
Potter fans lined up overnight as J.K. Rowling launched her
long-anticipated first book for adults, "The Casual Vacancy."
The
lines were shorter and the wizard costumes missing, but the book was
published to some of the same fanfare that greeted each Potter tome,
with stores wheeling out crates of the books precisely at 8 a.m.
Published
five years after the release of the last book in the boy wizard saga,
"The Casual Vacancy" is already at No. 1 on Amazon's U.S. chart, and
bookmaker William Hill put 2/1 odds on it outselling "Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows," which shifted 2.6 million copies in Britain on its
first day.
Many of the early buyers were Harry Potter fans who, like the author, have moved on to more adult fare.
"I
just like how much excitement there is about a book," said 23-year-old
Grace Proctor, a "massive" Potter fan who was first to buy the book at
one London store.
"I think there are going to be people who will
hate it just because they can hate it," she said. "But she's such an
amazing writer, I don't think she can go wrong."
A story of
ambition and rivalry set in the fictional English village of Pagford,
the novel recounts the civic warfare sparked when the unexpected death
of a town official leaves a vacancy on the governing body.
Rowling
has said she was aiming for Dickensian sweep in the multi-character
saga, whose doses of sex, satire and swearing mark a distinct departure
from wholesome Harry.
Reviews have been mixed. The Associated
Press judged it a challenging but rewarding read full of emotion and
heart, while The Guardian newspaper said it was "no masterpiece, but
it's not bad at all: intelligent, workmanlike, and often funny." Several
reviewers felt the lack of easily likable characters might be
off-putting to readers.
It's likely nothing Rowling publishes will
ever match the success of the Potter books, which have sold more than
450 million copies around the world.
But booksellers are confident "The Casual Vacancy" will be one of the year's best-sellers, whatever reviewers say.
"A
lot of children have grown up with Harry Potter. They're now adults who
love books," said Susan Sinclair, divisional manager for the Foyles
bookstore chain.
"I think it's going to be a really big seller at Christmas. It'll be an easy gift — but also a good one."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
