The Oprah effect

Denerick

Jonathon Franzen got in a bit of trouble years ago when he refused to appear on the Oprah show for his book 'the Corrections'. He has backtracked for his latest novel and Oprah is endorsing it for her famous book club.

I personally do not see the problem. Cormac McCarthy got a lot of stick for appearing on Oprah but it is a fantastic book in its own right. So what do you think of all of this? Does it give dullards the opportunity to mock and denigrate? Or is a handy PR stunt that will guarantee around 200,000 sales for the author?

metrovelvet

I don't watch Oprah. But any tv personality who puts Faulkner on their reading list is pretty brave. She has gotten the nation reading again, or least the nation's women back interested in books, which no two ways about it is a positive way for her to wield her influence and I think it's great.

If an author doesn't want to appear on Oprah than that is his or her perogative. Some might be snooty, some might be reclusive, or some might not want to play ball with whatever her terms and conditions are. And that's ok too.

Personally, it is rare that I have any curiosity about the author or his or her intentions because I don't give a crap about his or her intentions or biography when I read. It is at the bottom of my list of interests, except in the occasional instance. But I think for Oprah, bringing the authors onto the tv and before the audience helps her sustain their interest in reading.

Permabear

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metrovelvet

donegalfella wrote: »

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Someone should get Robert Bly on it. Nah. Sadly I think it will take Snoop Dog to do a Reading is Fun[damental] ad campaign.

Kinski

I've seen Oprah speaking about books twice. Once with the McCarthy interview, which I sought out and watched; the other time I just happened to see her on TV 'unveiling' The Sound and the Fury as her recommended read. The first was interesting, largely because McCarthy doesn't usually do interviews, but I felt it might have been better handled by someone else (her question about the novel being a 'love-letter' by McCarthy to his son was cringe-inducing.) In the second case, I was pleased to see Faulkner's novel getting that kind of publicity - thus being introduced to people who otherwise might not have read it - but it was all done with such bombast that it felt slightly silly.

Despite what an endorsement from Oprah can do for an author's sales (I don't know how anyone could turn it down, unless they were Dan Brown or the like,) her whole shtick is so naff I wouldn't blame anyone for being sniffy.

mrsdewinter

I think it's a win-win situation: books are sold (making authors & publishers happy) and titles which viewers might have found intimidating are made accessible and are read by women who may take something from them.
Let's look at the bigger picture here: if women are buying these books, it's likely they are lying around in their homes, they may even be picked up eventually by their partners, you know - one of those mythical 'men' creatures.
I haven't checked it recently, but Oprah's reading list is usually quite ambitious, isn't it? At least she sets the bar pretty high...

Manach

We men read? Seriously?
Saying that, I'd normally prefer not to read on a booklist but try to see what catches my imagination on a shopping day. However, it would be naive of me to assume that a Waterstones/Eason's store buyer would not take a stock filling shortcut and pack the shelves with a booklist choices anyway.

buck65

Franzen made a bit of a fool of himself by his stance and later apologised for offending Oprah. His new book "Freedom" is her new pick so it's all hugs and kisses again. Personally I don't really like book clubs and TV forums discussing literature. Everyone is so different in their tastes, I suppose it does get people reading and talking about books but so many of the picks are just really poor and lame. Saying that it may be a reflection on the standard of books around at the moment. There is so much middle of the road trash on the book shelves that the good stuff does tend to get burried in the sports biog/chicklit/vampire/crime novel of choice.
Have a look at the Top 10 sellers in the papers, it makes me want to cry. I read some glowing reviews of "Matterhorn" the Vietnam vets book that was going to be a definitive novel on the horrors of war and racism etc. etc. It was just about readable.
One thing I would say about Oprah is her book choices seem a lot better than the likes of the Channel 4 book club.

Dades

buck65 wrote: »

Franzen made a bit of a fool of himself by his stance and later apologised for offending Oprah.

You'd swear he was refusing to appear in court to testify!

Why should an author get into trouble for not appearing on TV to do an interview about his own book, I ask.
Shades of "You DARE to refuse ME?!" :pac:

metrovelvet

Dades wrote: »

You'd swear he was refusing to appear in court to testify!

Why should an author get into trouble for not appearing on TV to do an interview about his own book, I ask.
Shades of "You DARE to refuse ME?!" :pac:

My guess is it looked like literary snobbery, like he didn't want to pander to the housewives. He was trying to write another GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. It would look kind of contradictory to be speaking to housewives since you know, they don't read literature, they read Woman's Own and Mills and Boon type of things in between visits to the shrink and the supermarket.

Denerick

Not every American housewife is a parody you know...

metrovelvet

Denerick wrote: »

Not every American housewife is a parody you know...

I know that. Did Franzen? My irony has really been going amiss lately. I will have to make it more blatant.

JohnMearsheimer

Authors write books for various reasons but publishers publish books to make money. It's all about raising the profile of the book and reaching as many people as possible. Turning down the kind of publicity Oprah offers is total madness. I work for a publisher and trying to get a book noticed and get decent, wide reaching publicity is difficult.

The Sparrow

I don't think you can really knock anything that has been succesful in getting more people reading.

Personally, I'm male and I have been known to pick up a book and give it more of a chance because it had the Richard and Judy book club sticker:o

I know that probably sounds ridiculous but in a bookshop when you are in a rush it is often difficult to pick a book by an author that you have not read before. I read The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfield and noticed that it had a Richard & Judy bookclub sticker and it was excellent. So know if I'm in a bookshop and I'm interested in a book and it has a sticker too, I tend to give it a try. Obviously, I buy other books too but there are some fantastic books like The Book Thief that I may not have read otherwise.

iguana

If I ever managed to finish writing a book and was not only lucky enough to get it published but to have someone like Oprah willing to endorse it I'd fall all over myself to get on her show. (Actually I'm presuming her show would fly me to Chicago first class and put me up somewhere fancy for my stay. ) It's got to be worth an absolute fortune to be picked for her book club and it's hardly selling out to allow your writing to be endorsed by someone who is clearly quite intelligent and loves reading. Her shows annoy the hell out of me and I don't know why anyone would watch them but a lot of people do and they respect her opinion on books.

That said I've never read a book based on her or R&J's recommendation. I read books that I like the sound of or that were recommended by friends/family. I'm a bit snobby in that if a book I wanted to read had an Oprah or R&J sticker on it I'd peel it off as I wouldn't want anyone to think that's why I was reading it. But she has recommended books which I have enjoyed and I think she makes an effort to choose a wide range of genres. I also think she chooses those books because she has genuinely enjoyed them.

Not going on her show because you don't like doing interviews is fair enough, as is not going on because of scheduling conflicts. But not going on her show because you don't want your book to be read by her audience is utter snobbery and very foolish.