Maddenation
One Hundred Years of Oprah
The other day I was walking down the street past Barnes & Noble. I noticed the display window had about 20 copies of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This was weird because the book was first published in 1967 (1970 for English). I read the book recently and was caught off guard by such heavy promotion more than 35 years after publication.
But then I looked closer. I saw a huge eyesore of a logo on it. It was the Oprah Book Club logo. Almost on cue I induced vomiting. I had no experience with the club, but I know Oprah and her show, and I’ve seen her book club logo on other books.
Yes, Oprah has apparently picked some very good books and given many great authors a readership they wouldn’t have gotten without the club, but it’s Oprah. If you’re going to listen to Oprah, why wouldn’t you listen to a book critic? Or an online forum where you can read useful reviews instead of rehashed back-of-the-book quotes and praise (which is what you get from Oprah’s website)? I would prefer taking a recommendation from a person who doesn’t have millions of dollars to gain from his or her choice, just someone who fights the good fight. And I’d rather read a book that doesn’t have a huge, terrible Oprah logo slapped on to what may have once been a thoughtfully designed book cover. What would happen to this juggernaut if there were no logo? I find it insulting to members of Oprah’s Book Club that there needs to be a logo in the first place. All you would have to do to find out the Oprah book is ask someone in the store what the latest Oprah book is and then go find it (the store worker would probably show you where it is). Oprah is insulting her audience’s intelligence with that logo, and downgrading the value of good book design (that’s a whole other topic…)
Dan • Observations • 02/04/04 • 4 comments
Comments
AJ • 02/04/04 • 7:04 PM:You’ve increased my hatred of Oprah. I hope she doesn’t brain-wash any women to come after you for your anti-Oprah-book-club post. Watch your back.
Patrick • 02/05/04 • 8:11 AM:I dunno. I tend to see it like this: Oprah wields tremendous power to influence what people wear, eat, and read. She can use that power for good or for evil. I’d rather she use it for good, which is what she’s doing by recommending One Hundred Years of Solitude. Now, this may lead to increased sales of the book without much increased reading of the book, but since Gabriel García Márquez is still alive, he’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.
Whether you like her logo slapped on the cover or not is another story. By the way, I found out about this when I went to eBay and saw the book highlighted on the very first page. I was like “Why would they be highlighting that book now? It’s easy to get in any book store, even in used book stores…” Then, upon further investigation, I discovered Oprah.
David • 02/05/04 • 10:29 AM:I don’t think Oprah is all that bad. (nor all that good). I agree more with Pat - more readership and more money for the author can’t be bad. I think more people than you think will read and like/understand the book. Not everything popular is bad (I was reminded of that this morning listening to NPR recap the history of the Beatles first visit to the US).
Dad • 02/05/04 • 10:02 PM:I’m not a big fan of Oprah, but she is clearly much better than Rickie Lake and Jerry Springer. As PC3 pointed out, she could be promoting anything, but made the choice to promote reading a few years ago, and has brightened some authors’ lives. She has become an American icon by being good at what she does, by working hard, by being likable, and by remaining generally positive in her approach instead of wallowing in the seamier side of life.
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
Please capitalize your name properly and use the same information each time you comment. We will not send you spam, and your email address will not be posted.