Literaturetoday

Dear Oprah,
I love you man, I really do. I especially appreciate everything you’ve done to promote reading. I mean, most novelists consider themselves successful if their book sells 20,000 copies. A novel in your book club will probably sell over a million copies. That’s quite impressive. And I’m not going to lie: I bought some of the books in your book club simply because you recommended them. You have tons of influence over people, including me. Sometimes.
I really don’t know the statistics here, so I could be wrong, but it seems like your book club appeals mainly to women. If this is true, it makes me wonder: do men read? Or do men just not find your book club appealing and are instead reading other literary works? If [insert famous male TV personality here] were to start a book club, would it have the same impact on the publishing industry?
Actually, I’m not writing to you to discuss your influence on the sale of books, really. I mainly wanted to write and discuss the James Frey issue with you. Yes, I realize that’s old news. But this has been bothering me for a while, and I’ve been too nervous to say anything to you. I mean, you’re Oprah, after all.
James Frey’s “memoir” about drug addiction and rehab, A Million Little Pieces, was a selection of your book club. When the Smoking Gun uncovered that the work was not entirely true, you brought Frey and publisher Nan Talese onto your show where you criticized them because you felt deceived.
Now, there has been some debate back and forth: some agree with your criticisms of Frey and Talese while other seem to think that you don’t grasp the concept of what “memoir” means. I’m not going to take a side on whether Frey and Talese where right or wrong, because I really don’t feel like I know as though I’m educated enough on the issue to come to a conclusion.
I would like to remind you, however, that you are essentially a brand name. A television show, a magazine, and a book club bear your name. Heck, you even have a musical and have done some acting on the side. You have dabbled in so many different mediums and have so much influence in different realms. When you’re Oprah Winfrey, don’t you have some responsibility to fact check something before you associate yourself with it? You kept talking about how easy it was to determine that Frey’s book wasn’t entirely accurate and criticized Ms. Talese for not doing more to fact check before the book was published. But I mean, you didn’t do any fact checking either. It’s one thing to be an average person being a deceived by a book. Face it: you’re not some average person reading a book. You’re Oprah Winfrey, and if you’re going to select a book club that has proven to influence the sales of a book, take the time to really make sure you’re comfortable with it so you’re not embarrassed later. Why would you take the word of someone who admits to being a drug addict, and a liar? Whose memory may have been impaired by his repeated and heavy drug use? Especially when you have so much at take? I mean, you have so much clout. All you have to do is say “read this” and all of America runs to the bookstore. Many of us are sheep, really. Someone in your position has a lot of responsibility.

Love,
me

Further reading:

• Drug addiction @ the Mayo Clinic.
• How Oprahness Trumped Truthiness

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