The publishing world murmers in anticipation:
- Talk show maven Oprah Winfrey announced last night that she was reviving her hugely successful book club. But rather than feature contemporary, generally unknown authors as she did for six years, Winfrey will choose three to five classics per year.
Winfrey's decision to focus on classics will no doubt spark sales of noteworthy books whose primary audience is high school and college students, for whom the stuff is required reading. That's because no one should underestimate the connection that Winfrey has with her audience. She is a bona fide celebrity but is viewed as an "Everywoman." She's overweight, like us.
Her fans--viewers of her television show, readers of her magazine--are not sheep, but they tend to respect her opinions and believe that what she says speaks directly to them. People will buy the classics based on her recommendation but sales won't reach the kind of numbers achieved in the first book club. [Forbes]
Article comments
1 - The Theory
I assume this will be an unpopular admission... but I think Oprah is pretty cool. Somehow she seems real.
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what classics she chooses.
peace.
2 - James Russell
I'm thinking Oprah will go for the safe, conventional, politically correct and boring options. Nothing too threatening, nothing too obscure.
3 - Murphy
I hope that she brings interesting books to light. Her book club was great, bringing books to light that might otherwise have remained obscure.
Classics are good too. But I hope she picks lesser known-classics, so people can read something new, rather than re-reading what they read in high school.
4 - Michelle
I liked "Oprah" when it was still on German tv (years ago and even in the original version). She has an amazing connection with her audience. You just can't escape her.
5 - Jim Carruthers
I liked Oprah when she used to rub her chocolately goodness right in my face, all that sweet, sweet bounty. Oh, Oprah, where did we go wrong? You know how I used to tickle you in that special place?
But she left me for Dr. Phil.
Bitch.