Oprah's Book Club

Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for viewers to read and discuss each month.^[1]^[2]^[3] In total, the club recommended 70 books during its 15 years.

Due to the book club's widespread popularity, many obscure titles have become very popular bestsellers, increasing sales in some cases by as many as several million copies.^[4] Al Greco, a Fordham University marketing professor, estimated the total sales of the 70 "Oprah editions" at over 55 million copies.^[1]

The club has seen several literary controversies, such as Jonathan Franzen's public dissatisfaction with his novel, The Corrections, having been chosen by Winfrey,^[1] and the incident of James Frey's memoir, A Million Little Pieces, being outed as almost entirety fabricated.^[1] The latter controversy resulted in Frey and publisher Nan Talese being confronted and publicly shamed by Winfrey in a highly praised live televised episode of Winfrey's show.^[5]

On June 1, 2012, Oprah announced the launch of Oprah's Book Club 2.0 with Wild by Cheryl Strayed. The new version of Oprah's Book Club, a joint project between OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and O, The Oprah Magazine, incorporates the use of various social media platforms and e-readers.

On March 25, 2019, Apple Inc. and Oprah announced a revival of Oprah's Book Club that aired on Apple TV+.^[6]^[7]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bob Minzesheimer, "How the 'Oprah Effect' changed publishing", USA Today, May 23, 2011.
^ Matthew Flamm, "Publishers say farewell to Oprah Book Club boon", Crain's New York Business, May 20, 2011.
^ Cite error: The named reference kellogg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Wyatt, Edward (June 7, 2004). "Tolstoy's Translators Experience Oprah's Effect". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
^ Carr, David (January 30, 2006). "How Oprahness Trumped Truthiness". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
^ Hipes, Patrick (March 25, 2019). "Apple Shows Off Original Series For First Time With Sizzle Reel – Watch". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
^ Gartenberg, Chaim (March 25, 2019). "Oprah will release two documentaries on Apple TV Plus along with a new book club". The Verge. Retrieved March 27, 2019.

[minzesheimer-1] Bob Minzesheimer, "How the 'Oprah Effect' changed publishing", USA Today, May 23, 2011.

[flamm-2] Matthew Flamm, "Publishers say farewell to Oprah Book Club boon", Crain's New York Business, May 20, 2011.

[kellogg-3] Cite error: The named reference kellogg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[oprah_effect-4] Wyatt, Edward (June 7, 2004). "Tolstoy's Translators Experience Oprah's Effect". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2007.

[truthiness-5] Carr, David (January 30, 2006). "How Oprahness Trumped Truthiness". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2007.

[auto-6] Hipes, Patrick (March 25, 2019). "Apple Shows Off Original Series For First Time With Sizzle Reel – Watch". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2019.

[auto1-7] Gartenberg, Chaim (March 25, 2019). "Oprah will release two documentaries on Apple TV Plus along with a new book club". The Verge. Retrieved March 27, 2019.

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