Issue One, March 2002
a catboymusings feature
article
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Oprah's Book Club. The very mention of it is enough to send book publishers salivating like Pavlovian dogs. A book chosen by Oprah experiences stratospheric sales for the publisher, and fame and recognition for the author. The good news is, Oprah apparently cannot be bought or bribed by the book-houses. She chooses her own selections and decides to impart her love of the book and its knowledge upon the (mainly middle-aged female) audience. But how good is Oprah's Book Club really ?
Well, I really enjoy participating in it albeit from my loungeroom and through the television in a one-sided conversation, rather than in the splendour of Oprah's conventionally tasteful faux library with the woman herself. Does this make me a middle-aged (and usually middle-class) American woman at heart ? I hope not, as I would be going through a severe identity crisis. Most of Oprah's selections are intelligent insights into the heart of Middle America; contemporary literature that is at times far from mere trashy reads. Most demand a certain amount of involvement and reflection from the reader (well, maybe we can exclude those works by Anita Shreeve and Maeve Binchy), although at times they are only limited to the female experience - Oprah knows her target audience. But it's good to see authors like Toni Morrison achieve wider readership. She probably includes Oprah in her prayers every night. As should we all.
Rest assured, whichever Oprah book selection you read, there will be heartbreak ahead as a whole gamut of emotions are explored and which assault the reader with alarming regularity. Whether it is domestic violence, child abuse, slavery, death, missionaries in the Congo - Oprah knows all the topics which are clean good fun. And she's probably experienced them first hand, and will tell us all during the Book Club discussion.
But these books will also be about redemption, rediscovery and renewal - a lot of "re's" that will lead to some uplifting finale no matter how bittersweet the conclusion. Kind of like Oprah's life itself. A self-made survivor, Oprah reaches out to the masses and offers a New Age wisdom on how to break through life and be the best possible you. Self-reflection is the latest drug, and it obviously works for a hell of a lot of Americans or else Oprah wouldn't be so popular. She outrates the Jerry Springers and Ricki Lakes of the world by avoiding the trash and pouring on the soul. She's the Aretha Franklin of talkback. If Oprah started her own religion I would sign up before you could say "Branch Davidian". And I still probably wouldn't be the first in line.
So, why not try it ? Buy the latest book club choice. Read it. Think about it. Watch the show. Delight in the inane banter arising from the dinner guests and wish you were there to tell them to shut up so you could hear what the author actually has to say about their own book. Hear Oprah announce the next selection. Then go out and buy that.
Oprah Rocks.
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Try reading catboy musings selections of Oprah's selections:
