Saxat ur The Times:
China claims a first with the new Harry Potter
From Oliver August in Beijing
DRENCHED by a mysterious rain, Harry Potter is transformed into a fat, hairy dwarf and stripped of his magic powers as he battles the forces of evil in the shape of a dragon.
The plot of the long-awaited fifth book about the young wizard?s adventures? Not quite. This is the enterprising fiction of an anonymous Chinese author who has written a fake Harry Potter book to satisfy the extraordinary appetite for his stories.
Harry Potter and Leopard walk up to Dragon,is on sale in Beijing street markets for about £1 and, much to the dismay of the publisher of J.K. Rowling?s original Potter books in China, it has become an instant success.
But while Rowling?s name appears on the cover, the book is hardly the prose style her readers have come to know and love. Characters from the real Potter books have been resurrected and new ones invented, and one reader said the plot could have been borrowed from Tolkein.
?Harry doesn?t know how long it will take to wash the sticky cream cake off his face,? the book begins. ?For a civilised young man it is disgusting to have dirt on any part of his body. He lies in the high-quality china bathtub, keeps wiping his face, and thinks about Dali?s face, which is as fat as the bottom of Aunt Penny.?
Neil Blair, of the Christopher Little Literary Agency which represents Ms Rowling, said the book was being investigated. ?As with all piracy matters throughout the world, we take this issue extremely seriously and are looking into the matter urgently,? he said.
The People?s Publishing House, holder of the Chinese copyright, said the rogue writer had also used the names of its translators and editors as well as a photograph of JK Rowling.
This isn?t Harry?s first encounter with China?s copyright pirates: two years ago publication of the first three Potter books was brought forward to combat bootleggers.
Hur bizarr verkar den boken vara? Vill läsa.