Reading With Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America

By Kathleen Rooney

Book Overview

Adored by its fans, deplored by its critics, the Oprah Book Club has been at the center of arguments about cultural authority and literary taste since its inception in 1996. Virtually everyone seems to have an opinion about this monumental institution with its revolutionary and controversial fusion of the literary, the televisual, and the commercial. Reading with Oprah by Kathleen Rooney is the first in-depth look at the phenomenon that is the OBC. Rooney combines extensive research with a lively personal voice and engaging narrative style to untangle the myths and presuppositions surrounding the club, to reveal its complex and far-reaching cultural influence, confronting head-on how the club became a crucible for the heated clash between "high" and "low" literary taste. Comprehensive and up-to-date, the book features a wide survey of recent commentary, and describes why the club closed in 2002, as well as why it resumed almost a year later in 2003, with a new focus on "great books." Rooney also provides the most extensive analysis yet of the Oprah Winfrey-Jonathan Franzen contretemps. Through her close examination of each of the club's selected novels, as well as personal interviews and correspondence with OBC authors, Rooney demonstrates that in its tumultuous eight-year history the OBC has occupied a place of prominence unique in the culture that neither its supporters nor detractors have previously given it credit for.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557287821
• ISBN13: 9781557287823
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A must for anyone interested in how the club has affected the reading habits of America as a whole.

Oprah's Book Club has inspired many people to read in the past several years. "Reading with Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America" is an examination of the book club and those who participate within it. Topics covered include the criticisms lobbied at Oprah's book club, the club's effects on the books it features, and Oprah's turn to contemporary fiction in recent years. The new second edition includes an expanded analysis of the James Frey scandal. "Reading with Oprah" is a must for anyone interested in how the club has affected the reading habits of America as a whole.

Entertaining, yet analytical, read

not that those things are contradictory, but I really had no idea what to expect when picking up this book. In fact, the cover and the title don't do justice to the content or the writing inside. Instead of being simple description of the book club, how it works, or a description of Oprah, the book is an analysis of media culture in the late twentieth, early twenty-first century, told through the clear-eyed view of Rooney. And it's not that her account is unbiased but that, as with much of the best non-fiction and critical analysis, she is aware of her biases and let's the audience know and evaluate them as well. In short, the book is very thoughtful, well-written, researchful, and interessante.

If you read Oprah, read this

I definitely recommend Kathleen Rooney's book. What is especially compelling about her approach is how she mirrors the strengths and weaknesses of OBC in her own critique. Like Oprah, she dares to walk the dubious lines between the academy, mass media, and personal commentary, risking scrutiny on all fronts. And also like Oprah, she pulls it off with confidence and humor. I appreciate Rooney's struggle to be an authority and critique authority, which is why it's perfect that she includes a healthy dose of self disclosure and makes room for her own assessments of Oprah's picks. Most importantly, perhaps, Rooney makes the point that OBC is a woman-fronted effort and it's women readers who are changing the what, who, and how America reads.

Excellent discussion of TV media and lit criticism

Kathleen Rooney's _Reading with Oprah_ frames Oprah Winfrey's "Oprah's Book Club" (OBC) within the omnipresent high/low critical dichotomy pervasive throughout the American literary landscape. Rooney's examination of the first OBC's (Part I) "flattening" of fiction into easily digestible afternoon TV tidbits highlights the challenging translation of high lit criticism into empathic, commercial, "low" literary presentation. OBC Part I's overemphasis on author biography and viewers' emotional responses deadened further investigation of plot and characterization. Oprah's later attempt, OBC Part II, counterbalanced flattening with the "high" criticism of guest scholars and online study helps. OBC II's belated accentuation on literary criticism has only magnified talk show programming's bipolar relationship between serious reflection and TV ratings. Oprah tempers a sincere invitation to delve into her favorite works against her cultivated media persona and corporate capital. _Reading with Oprah_ treads on sacrosanct assumptions concerning TV's delivery of elite literary culture into the hands of middle America. This wonderful first work forces consideration of new literary spheres of influence far removed from the conventional wisdom of recent years.