Salem Press is proud to present another addition to its Critical Insights Series. This volume provides fourteen insightful essays that dig deep at the heart of the Harry Potter series, author J.K. Rowling's fantastical magnum opus.

About this volume / M. Katherine Grimes, Lana A. Whited -- On J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series / M. Katherine Grimes -- The sustaining power of imagination : biography of J.K. Rowling / Laurie Adams -- "Contemporary" does not mean "modern" : the Harry Potter series as a sampler of western literary traditions / M. Katherine Grimes -- A survey of the critical reception of the Harry Potter series / Lana A. Whited -- The once and future wizard: Arthurian (and anti-Arthurian) themes in the Harry Potter series / Danny Adams -- Moral ambiguity in authority figures in The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Harry Potter series / Crystal Wilkins -- Mums are good : Harry Potter and the traditional depictions of women / Jeanne Hoeker LaHaie -- Rock cakes and reciprocity : food and the male performance of nurturing in Harry Potter / Danielle Bienvenue Bray -- Mentoring in the wizarding world : Dumbledore and his literary ancestors / Christina Vourcos -- The Dark Lord and the Prince : Machiavellian elements in Harry Potter / Todd J. Ide -- Morals vs. Christianity : how Harry Potter goes beyond goodness to godliness / Jenn Colett -- J.K. Rowling : author(ing) celebrity / Saradindu Bhattacharya -- Growing up with Harry Potter : what motivated youth to read the Harry Potter series? / Colette Drouillard -- "Splinched" : the problem of disability in the Harry Potter series / Leigh A. Neithardt -- Harry Potter and the chronotope : suggestive possibilities for theoretical engagement / Margaret Zeegers -- From Sorcerer's Stone to Deathly Hallows : the failed quest for immortality in the Harry Potter Series / Lana A. Whited.