“What a brilliant idea,” I said when Oprah Winfrey started her book club in 1996. “Think of the millions of people she’ll reach.”
Book clubs have been popular for decades, but Oprah’s TV venture inspired a radical grassroots movement. Fans buy the books (Oprah book club picks become best-sellers), presumably read them, and watch the show’s book club segments.
Oprah specializes in literary fiction: her selections over the years have included Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman, Toni Morrison’s Paradise, Kaye Gibbons’ A Virtuous Woman, Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything, Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True, and Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom.
For a few years, Oprah experimented with discussing classics. Her picks included Anna Karenina and East of Eden. (Kelsey Grammer, the actor who played Frasier, participated in the East of Eden discussion). But Oprah’s fans rebelled when she assigned a boxed set of three books by Faulkner. Good for her for trying!
And so Oprah returned to literary fiction. Sometimes she selects non-fiction. The pick this month is Ann Packer’s Some Bright Nowhere.
Not everyone is a fan of celebrity book clubs, Some are offended by the mere idea of a celebrity reading a book. In fact, they are of the opinion that celebs don’t actually read books. I’m not sure where they get this idea.
“I don’t need Oprah/Reese Witherspoon/Jenna to tell me what to read,” a friend with a Ph.D. in English said.
“Well, obviously not, but it’s a fun concept!”
My friend rocked my world when she suggested, “The assistants read the books and brief the boss.” Well, please, don’t destroy my idealism here! I’m sure the celebs can read! And if the assistants screen the books (they probably receive thousands in the mail and get phone calls from PR people), this is more than a one-woman enterprise.
And then we move on to Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. The selections are a bit light for me, but I’m sure they’re great fun. The current selection is Rebecca Armitage’s The Heir Apparent.
And then there’s Jenna Bush Hager’s “Read with Jenna” on the Today Show. She is a fan of literary fiction. This month she’s opted for a classic: her pick is Pride and Prejudice, in honor of Jane Austen’s birthday on December 16!
I don’t keep up with celeb book clubs, but they do sell a lot of books. It’s all about inspiring readers, isn’t it? And letting people know about good books.