USA Today has posted some highlights from J.K. Rowling’s chat with Ann Patchett at Lincoln Center last night. Magical Menagerie was in attendance and we can tell you it was amazing!

My personal favorite quote of the night happened when a fan asked Rowling if she live be anywhere in the world, magical or real, where would it be. Jo responded by saying the first thought that popped into her head was going to Meriton to get between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy (of Pride and Prejudice.) She admitted that she has a crush on him (that her husband is well aware of) and jokes, “but who doesn’t have a think for Mr Darcy?”

Some quotes from USA Today:

J.K. Rowling quipped Tuesday about the difference between The Casual Vacancy, her first post-Harry Potter novel for grown-ups, and another kind of adult best seller: E.L. James’ erotic Fifty Shades of Grey.

“The difference is that people have sex in my book, but no one enjoys it,” Rowling told 2,500 cheering fans at an event at a Manhattan theater.

Rowling also said:

— She dreaded writing several scenes in her new novel, about social and political divisions in a small English town, particularly a rape, but “it had to happen. It was there for a reason.”

— Her new novel “might be appropriate for the right 14- or 15-year-old, but not any younger than that.” But parents, she added, should discuss the reasons with their children that it’s inappropriate.

— Her biggest challenge in moving from young readers to adults wasn’t “about writing in a contemporary world, in a real world,” but getting “the structure” right of a novel without a central character.

—–

It [the event] drew a screaming crowd that gave Rowling a standing ovation as she walked on stage, prompting Patchett to say, “This is like a Stones concert.”

Patchett, “as a writer and bookseller,” praised Rowling “for doing more for reading than anyone else in my lifetime and for single-handedly keeping an industry alive.”

“No, no, no,” Rowling replied. “That’s way too much responsibility.”

—–

The two authors sat on a stage normally used by the New York City Ballet and often drew laughs, especially when Patchett mentioned the double meaning of “adult novel.”

Both Rowling and Patchett shared they hadn’t read Fifty Shades.

“Everyone tells me the writing is terrible,” Patchett said.

“But that’s porn,” Rowling shot back to laughter. “Have you ever read The Story of O?”

“I went to Catholic school,” Patchett confessed.

“You’d like it even more,” Rowling replied.

—–

When Rowling said she feared some readers may have missed the humor in The Casual Vacancy, Patchett said “it is a story not between evil and good, but between evil and funny.”