Oprah's next Book Selection

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Franzen vs. Oprah:

http://www.mobylives.com/Oprah_v_Franzen.html

-----Original Message-----
>From: Bryan Snyder <wilsonistrey at gmail.com>
>Sent: Mar 28, 2007 4:33 PM
>To: kelber at mindspring.com, pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: Oprah's next Book Selection
>
>There is something to be said about pouring your heart and many years of 
>your life into art... and fighting the editors to keep certain things that 
>they may not fully grasp in the concept of the art... and then to have Oprah 
>use your art (arguably (or not) Franzen's opus so far) to promote her show 
>and her brand.... and not wanting to see people buy the work you've invested 
>so much into, simply because a professional yenta tells them to...
>
>I mean - I understand what oprah does is for the common good, she gets 
>people to read who otherwise wouldn't (or would read crap), but Franzen does 
>have a point that he doesn't want people buying his book because of the seal 
>on the cover... he wants them buying it because of word of mouth, genuine 
>interest, or something about the summary strikes the shopper... pretty much 
>anything other than groupthink.
>
>I see both sides and if I were Franzen... it would kill me to have my 
>book(art) used for such self-promotion and profit, regardless of the small % 
>who will read the book and GET IT, as opposed to the large % who will simply 
>await her majesty's next choice.
>
>Franzen gets the nod here in my opinion.  The creator should have the final 
>say.
>
>B
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: <kelber at mindspring.com>
>To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 3:39 PM
>Subject: RE: Oprah's next Book Selection
>
>
>> Oprah deserves a lot of credit (particularly being a TV personality) for 
>> getting a lot of non-readers to read.  It's a good thing that she's 
>> encouraging people (mostly women) to read literature, rather than just 
>> crappy romance novels.  Jonathan Franzen's hissy fit, removing his book 
>> from Oprah's reading list, showed him up to be the asshole he is.
>>
>> Laura
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>>From: Ya Sam <takoitov at hotmail.com>
>>>Sent: Mar 28, 2007 3:17 PM
>>>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>>Subject: RE: Oprah's next Book Selection
>>>
>>>http://amazon.com/gp/product/0307387895/sr=53-1/qid=1175107560/ref=tr_200211/104-0123184-1917503
>>>
>>>Hmmm... Does she consult the unhappy author before including a novel into
>>>her book club? Is AtD next down the line?
>>>
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>> 
>