Harry Potter and the Cause of Insomnia

My first encounter with the Potter franchise came with an afternoon rerun of "Sorcerer's Stone" on HBO. I was decidedly unimpressed. It was like a crappy knock-off kids version of Lord of the Rings. And it was directed by the guy that made Macauley Culkin a superstar - an ominous sign for the future of any actor or franchise. I saw "Chamber of Secrets" in a similar manner, and found it to be much better - but still a children's fable of precocious youth foiling a silly plot. After that I moved to europe and drank a lot of beer, generally forgetting about the whole thing. But my friend Michal told me the books were really good, so I read the first two and was impressed. They were childrens books...but entertaining and fun and much better than the movies. After this I went back for my summer of sloth, and I saw "Prisoner of Azkaban". I was amazed - what a fantastic movie. It was so far beyond the first two that I was unable to compare - it was like the boring girl at the office who suddenly gets a makeover and starts wearing shirts two sizes too small - in a good way, of course. I loved it. But then I kinda forgot about that too... Then this winter I saw "Goblet of Fire", which was improbably better than the last. My gf then started to read the books, finally having read 'The half-blood prince' just a few days ago. She convinced me to give the books another go, and I picked up 'Prisoner of Azkaban' at JFK on my way back from training a few weeks ago. And now I can't sleep or work very effectively, because I'm so excited to get back and read these damn books. i'm currently on "order of the phoenix", which doesn't have all that much action. But the characters are so great, the plot so intricate and exciting, that I really can't tear myself away. I am ashamed to say that I made fun of my friends (Dana, specifically) whenever I saw one reading these damn kids books. But now I understand. I actually see people reading the Potter books on the metro several times a week. I've been recommending them to everyone I can, but they laugh and say they're not going to read kids books. Well let me tell you: if you get through the third book and then are able physically stop yourself from running to the nearest bookstore for 'Goblet of Fire', I pity you, you heartless bastard. Probably the most enjoyable book discovery since I found out "Master and Commander" was fucking awesome. So what are you waiting for? Join the kindergarten and read "Harry Potter"