I think a good part of Rowling's adult readership--not the kids who grew up with her, but the Zeitgeist-surfers--see fantasy that way. A few years back, she gave the commencement address at Harvard. The woman standing next to me (a nice upper-middle-class New Yorker type) was clearly thrilled. "Oh, I love reading fantasy," she said. "You don't have to think."

Nine