07-10-2003, 09:03 PM | #2 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: Enfield MA
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It's Oprah's first selection for her new book club. It's good to see that she picked an obscure novel by an author no one's ever heard of...
Oprah's book club waned toward the end of its previous run, but judging by East of Eden's success, she's still pretty much a publishing-industry juggernaut. Books chosen for her club usually sold anywhere from 500,000 to one million copies, give or take--this in an industry in which sales in the low five figures are often a wild success. It's cool that she's promoting literature in a country where it's been on the decline for decades, but IMHO it would've been cooler if she'd found some lesser-known writers to publicize. |
07-10-2003, 11:23 PM | #3 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: maybe utah
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the good thing about her selection is that maybe it will get people to read something by steinbeck besides "the pearl," "grapes of wrath," and "Of Mice and Men." I teach english and kids rarely stray beyond what's required which is too bad.
Almost every student who has ever read both East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath prefers the former to the latter. Then I get them to read Tortilla Flats and then Winter of our Discontent. Steinbeck is as close to an American Shakespeare as a writer gets. Anything that exposes the american public to good literature gets my seal of approval. would you rather have her expose us to the latest "Message in a Bottle" or "Where the Heart Is"?
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"Remember, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." -Homer Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword? |
07-11-2003, 10:43 PM | #4 (permalink) | |
Tilted
Location: Enfield MA
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Part of what cheeses me off about Oprah is that when she ended her club's first incarnation, she said, "it has just become harder for me to find books on a monthly basis that I am really passionate about." Maybe she was just burned out, but if she was serious, then she simply wasn't looking hard enough. Check out the Review of Contemporary Fiction or Rain Taxi or BookForum, et al., for reviews of tons of great books, many of them by writers who count themselves lucky if they sell a thousand copies. At the same time, I agree that better Steinbeck than many/most of her previous choices. Ultimately I wish she were more adventurous, but one must walk before one runs, etc. |
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07-13-2003, 05:11 PM | #5 (permalink) | |
The sky calls to us ...
Super Moderator
Location: CT
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07-13-2003, 11:34 PM | #7 (permalink) | |
Upright
Location: GR
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07-16-2003, 05:17 PM | #9 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: P.R. Mass.
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That's really too bad that his books are now part of the 'soccer mom coffee klatsch' thing she's doing. I've enjoyed averything of his that I have read, and hate to think that these sycophants are reading the same things I enjoy. On the upside, I somehow think that she won't be tackling and Ayn Rand anytime soon (insert sycophant joke here.)
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07-20-2003, 01:20 PM | #10 (permalink) |
Semi-Atomic
Location: Home.
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At least she is getting those average, american housewifes (not to offend any Oprah fans who don't fall in that category..yeah you 2 over there) to read the classics and maybe move away from Harlequin romances.
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Someday, someone will best me. But it won't be today, and it won't be you. |
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literature, oddity |
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