I would think of myself as well-read, but I never needed Harry Potter to get me interested in reading. Since the first book of the series was released I've been strongly against it all. Wizardry, and all that shit. It's sickening to think that almost every American child who has read the Harry Potter books will think that we're all posh private-school twats with twee little accents who run around telling shite jokes and being dorks.
Hatred for the series aside, I doubt the scores of Harry Potter video games and films are helping literacy, either.
Ah, now
there's a classic.