Harry Potter And The Missing Pages

Several hundred copies of Harry Potter are missing pages; a handful are without entire chapters. We have yet to observe it on the subway, but reports suggest that is a consensus reaction to the absent pages: screaming.

From the AP:

Leanne Greer, 36, had gone on “lock down” — no television, radio or Internet — after buying her copy of “Deathly Hallows” at about 7 a.m. on Saturday. She said she finished reading page 306, then discovered the next 33 pages of the book were missing.

“I just kind of freaked out,” said Greer, a Purdue University graduate with degrees in elementary education and English. “My husband said, ‘Why are you screaming?’ He said ‘I thought one of the kids was hurt.’”

Luckily for Greer, she had a backup for her store-bought copy; she had ordered another copy online.

“I’m just that psychotic about it,” she said.

She tore open the package that arrived in the mail and kept reading.

Some entrepreneurial Potterphiles have opted to list the defective books on eBay, but if you just want a complete copy, return your book to the store from which it was purchased for an exchange.

Some Potter fans find pages missing [AP]
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Comments

  1. snazz says:

    so, does that mean 0.0000046% of people who bought this book might be slightly inconvenienced?

  2. banned says:

    Those will be worth alot of money someday most likely so I certainly would not return it if I got one.

  3. MameDennis says:

    (insert obligatory “Sopranos” finale reference here)

  4. ThunderSaid says:

    This kind of thing is bound to happen with such a large printing (what was it, 12.5 million books in the initial run?) I was working at a bookstore during the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and we got plenty of returns from people who were missing pages, whose pages were printed on a slant (meaning the last word of a few lines was missing), and at least one book that was printed upside-down (The cover was on wrong). I thought the Upside-down book would make a neat collector’s item, since it was unusual, but otherwise perfect. (The angry customer didn’t see things my way, so we exchanged the book for her.)

  5. Kurtz says:

    @rocnrule: I’m sure you’ll make a killing in the market for first editions with missing pages.

  6. alhypo says:

    @rocnrule: Really? I know errant coins are valuable, but I’ve never heard this about books. Do you have an example?

  7. Hawk07 says:

    Sports cards with defects tend to be more valuable as well.

  8. 3drage says:

    How could these books be of value? I could take my current book, and carefully remove a section of pages and say it was one of these misprints. That fact alone would detract from the value of these books people are holding onto.

  9. banned says:

    @alhypo:
    Anything kids collect will be worth money to start; comics, sports cards, olf Star wars figures, etc. Throw in misprints and almost always increase the value. An example of a book would be [www.bookmoot.com]

  10. Falconfire says:

    @3drage: They know where the missprints are and the batches they came from and the like through tracking numbers and such. Its very hard in these days to forge a missprint, you would have to know exactly which print house it came from and the number range and have your book fall within that.

    And this is for first editions mind you. Later editions are rarely worth the paper they are printed on unless they are the only copy left

  11. Melov says:

    God, some people are losers.

    Get a life, Harry Potter is trash. You’re treating it like the Pokemon craze.

  12. 3drage says:

    @Falconfire: You’re working on the assumption that the misprints are identifiable via some type of batch mechanism, that there will continue to be an available record if and when these books “ripen” in value, and that the buying market is willing to invest time to research whatever identification is available, and whether or not the seller wants to take time to list the Identifying information. That’s quite a few maybes.

  13. Thrust says:

    This would be a great time/place to put spoilers for the book so everyone knows what happens and we can finally push the nightmare that was Harry Potter out of our lives…

    JK Rowling: I had an idea, about a boy wizard…
    Dick with a Time Machine: No! You books will be about a magical raccoon. He has an Afro, his name is Squiggles, and he shoots pixie dust out of his bung hole.
    – Robot Chicken

  14. Mom2Talavera says:

    I’m sick of hearing about Harry Potter!

  15. Youthier says:

    @Thrust: @Melov: What does it matter to you? How does a book’s popularity hurt you or negatively impact your life?

  16. mopar_man says:

    “I just kind of freaked out,” said Greer, a Purdue University graduate with degrees in elementary education and English. “My husband said, ‘Why are you screaming?’ He said ‘I thought one of the kids was hurt.’”

    Luckily for Greer, she had a backup for her store-bought copy; she had ordered another copy online.

    “I’m just that psychotic about it,” she said.

    Psychotic is a good word. That means you need professional help and you proved it by your actions over A BOOK. I would expect a 10-year old to get mildly upset yet a grown, educated adult started screaming when some pages were missing out of a book? What would her actions be like if she had a serious problem in her life?

  17. Daemon_of_Waffle says:

    @HeyHermano: They’re afraid to acknowledge their inner child.

  18. Daemon_of_Waffle says:

    The super-ego must make sure the id never sees the light of day.

  19. Major-General says:

    @Mom2Talavera: To misquote, originally said about Tolkien: “Not another f*cking witch!”

  20. roche says:

    Is that thing on the left female?

  21. Wormfather says:

    @mopar_man: time for a suiting Sopranos reference.

    Tons of people screamed out loud when their screens went blank at the end of the sopranos finalie, I dont think this means they need professional help. When you’re in suspense and then something like that happens, you react.

    Kind of like every time a girl saw me naked.

  22. jmuskratt says:

    @Wormfather: Dude, flashing is a crime.

  23. Thrust says:

    @HeyHermano: @Daemon_of_Waffle: I hate Daniel Radcliffe, the books sucked, and there is nothing more offensive to my love of fantasy/scifi than the way potter-magic works… Suckimus Hardicus!

    And why the hell doesn’t Harry have the balls to nail Heirome, or is he more into Brom?

  24. North of 49 says:

    i bought my copy of half blood prince two years ago when son of 49 ripped out the pages near the end of mt adult cover copy. will i be able to get a replacement for the missing pages in the one I bought to replace it with?

  25. Buran says:

    Uhm, so return it for a replacement. I had a book ordered from Amazon SPLIT down the spine the first time I opened it, and it should have been well bound — it was a “field reference book” for trainspotters. Amazon replaced it no questions asked. A decent bookstore will replace one of these too.

  26. joopiter says:

    @mopar_man: A couple of months ago, my friends and I went to see a movie. Projector cut out about 20 minutes to the end of the film. The audience started shouting and several people ran to the lobby to get management. Does that mean that all of us in the audience needed professional help because we were upset that a story we were in the middle of was suddenly interrupted?

  27. boandmichele says:

    @Thrust: huh? and harry potter = a nightmare? wow, you are a drama queen.

    there are lots of things that could be said here, for or against the harry potter books. the point is, if you aren’t a fan, then ignore it. stop trying to force your dislikes on other people.

    its like when the chrysler PT cruiser came out, the most awkward and ugliest vehicle ever. And people bought the crap out of them. it was a fad, yes. but i didnt drive down the road angry at them, or rolling down my window to say ‘god why did you buy that? it is just a fad. what a nightmare’

    i should tell you people to grow up, but i think you should do the opposite.

  28. Asherah says:

    The first 1,000 copies that were published of the first book in the HP series (500 of which were donated to libraries) are now fetching upwards of $80K, so yeah, whatever the market will bear and all of that nonsense.

  29. sharki3232 says:

    @Hawk07: Only if the defect gets corrected and a proper card or comic or toy or whatever is reintroduced into the market. Otherwise what you have is actually worth less because a collector would consider it broken.

  30. No offense to Potter fans, but this is like the best practical joke EVAR.

  31. horatio80 says:

    Accio Pages

  32. axiomatic says:

    sectumsempra scholastic!

  33. Hawk07 says:

    @joopiter:

    I have a better one.

    Try 10 years ago, the opening night when Star Wars was being re-released that included all the news special effects and fixes. The projector crapped out during the opening sequence.

    God, I thought I was in hell with 600 star wars nerds yelling and screaming and making general asses of themselves.

    It was actually quite an experience because it’s one of those ultra-funny rare events in life you get to experience first hand.

    (my friends from school were into it so I went with them)

  34. Televiper says:

    @joopiter:

    Let me see… People shout because they’re in public and they are either playing to the rest of the audience, or they believe the projectionist can hear them. People run out to the lobby to get the film fixed instead of just sitting there with an “Oh Well” frown on their face.


    A woman, sitting along reading a book notices pages missing and screams in such away her husband runs in concerned about the kids. Especially when you consider the fact that it’s probably still the middle of the day Saturday and she has a second copy of the book. They’re not even sold out.

    It’s a completely nonsensical over reaction. Perhaps she’s not psychodic, but she’s definitely a drama queen.

  35. Chicago7 says:

    @roche:

    That’s Carrot Top!

  36. Chicago7 says:

    @Thrust:

    So why are you posting on a thread about the books, again?

  37. Chicago7 says:

    @horatio80:

    Hahahaha!

  38. Thrust says:

    @Chicago7: Because I hate Harry (squiggles) Potter, and like to exercise my right to voice that distaste, in the wishes that this series goes through its fad and fudges the hell off. Or is consumerist only for when people LIKE the product mentioned?

  39. ZonzoMaster says:

    @Televiper: I agree.

    And well, as long as kids read books, many will make it a habit (and that’s a good thing). And I freaking started with Jules Verne and Sherlock Holmes, I think the wizard kid is easier to read.

  40. Melov says:

    @HeyHermano: By spamming the front page of this wonderful website. I’ve honestly reduced my visiting for the last 3 days to consumerist and digg just because of this lame ass book.

  41. night_sky says:

    @Melov: Why do you give a damn what other people enjoy doing with their spare time? They’re reading a book even, which couldn’t be any less disruptive to you. Yeah, there’s lots of posts on it but there were a billion more iPhone posts and guess what? I dealt with them. I didn’t visit sites for a few days and/or skipped over a lot of posts. You’re allowed to state your opinion but I don’t see how you can criticize someone for their own interests when it has nothing to do with you.

    For the record, I don’t care anything about Harry Potter (don’t like the movies either), but I do sympathize with someone who might freak out if something they were a fan about screwed up in some way, and I’m sure you can too. What if your TV went down when you were viewing a PPV fight? What if your car stalled when you were inches away from meeting your *insert inspirational celeb name here*? Heck, what if your computer was set ablaze trashing every single piece of data you ever had on it? Different things mean more to people than other things. Why should anyone care what those things are?

  42. boandmichele says:

    @Melov: i see you’ve read it then. i’ve yet to read it, but thanks for the spoiler. i was hoping it wouldn’t be ‘lame’.

  43. @night_sky: They have nothing else to care about.

  44. aikoto says:

    @mopar_man:

    “Psychotic is a good word. That means you need professional help and you proved it by your actions over A BOOK. I would expect a 10-year old to get mildly upset yet a grown, educated adult started screaming when some pages were missing out of a book? What would her actions be like if she had a serious problem in her life?”

    I just love people who completely discount something that’s important to them just because they don’t share in it. “Football is just a game after all”. “9/11 ONLY had 3000 victims after all”. “Relax, it’s just one or two extra-marital affairs”

    Don’t be a dick.

  45. Blueskylaw says:

    The only good thing about this craze is that kids are reading. But buying 2 copies is psychotic. Why not 3 copies in case the 100 year flood strikes twice in one year?
    *Sigh, should have bought stock, psychotics make for good markets*

  46. RonDMC says:

    @Thrust: Fad? I don’t know if it’s appropriate to call a 10+ year internationally beloved franchise that is almost single-handedly credited for reintroducing the fun of reading to millions of people “just a fad.”

    Re: Buying two copies – Psychotic? Maybe, but probably not. Planning ahead to offset potential disruptions of her enjoyment? More likely. Shipping errors, manufacturer’s defects, damage in transit, delayed delivery, etc are all very viable concerns and happened ubiquitously around this book. This woman didn’t want to have her experience disrupted and took steps to minimize the changes of problems. Who are you to call her a psycho?

    Any why can’t people get excited about something? It’s a fun series that a lot of people are excited about, and just because you’re not doesn’t mean nobody else can be.

  47. AcidReign says:

        The little receipt checker at the door, at Sam’s Club actually checked our Potter book we picked up, for missing pages. Nice.

        Lotta Potter hate in this thread! Wow. No story’s perfect, not even Lord of the Rings. If you hate Harry Potter, I’d suggest not reading the book, and skipping posts about it. Although, sorry to say, I did find the (otherwise negative) post about “nailing Hermione” intriguing… And it would, of course, attach a “sex-offender” tag to everyone involved.

  48. alicetheowl says:

    @Blueskylaw: I’m sure the library I donated my second copy to will be quite pleased to know they obtained it from a crazy person. The 150 people on the waiting list, too.

    I will happily lump myself in with these so-called “psychotics” if it’s people like you who get to decide such things.

  49. Blueskylaw says:

    @RonDMC:
    I called her action psychotic, not her. Big difference.
    @alicetheowl:
    Kudos to you “Alice?” Donating your second copy is a great thing to do. People who can’t afford to buy it, or don’t want to will be thankful for people like you.
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