Growing up in the Midwest in the ’80s, I watched a lot of Oprah. In her early shows she was a Phil Donahue wannabe, taking phone calls over a loudspeaker and moving around her studio audience, holding a mic out to let them vent their opinions.
Later she did more one-on-one interviews from a leather armchair on stage, coming across as a kindly, relatable therapist. (In 1997 she was slyly cast as Ellen DeGeneres’s shrink in her famous coming out episode.)
Starting around the same time as the Ellen episode, Oprah began a book club that reverberated soundly through the publishing industry. With the exception of the Harry Potter series, I can think of no greater single cause of book sales in the 90s.
Here are five of her selected book club titles and what I thought of them.
1.
Already heavily buzzed upon its release a few years before, Wally Lamb’s funny and relatable classic set the tone for a standard type of Oprah pick: an imperfect female protagonist making it through childhood abuse, weight struggles, and social and family upheaval to hard-won self-acceptance. It was one of her funnier book choices and not the only one from this author.
2.
A gorgeously written story of a troubled mother and her teen daughter, this brought LA to life for me in the same way Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City introduced me to San Francisco. It was also one of her first selections to be immediately made into a theatrically released movie, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as the poisonous Ingrid.
3.
This was a lovely, insightful love story that set a slightly different tone from Oprah’s other choices. (To my memory, it’s the only selection about Black HIV.) It has a small chamber piece feel to it, like an intimate conversation with a type of person you don’t always interact with. I read Pearl Cleage before I read Terry McMillan so I will retroactively compare the two now. Good stories from smart women.
4.
Oprah has unquestionable good taste when it comes to stylists. Alice Hoffman writes gorgeously in this retelling of Wuthering Heights. I loved the bewitching Fox Hill setting and the story of a teenage passion brought back by a midlife encounter.
5.
After humiliating herself to try to keep her husband, Sam faces a change of life when they split up. To support her teenage son, she takes in boarders. Among them is King, a middle aged man who is still a virgin. Their slow burn connection kept the pages turning. A good story by a good writer.
Five books, five good reads. I don’t know how many people would have read these titles without Oprah’s influence. In some cases, I’m sure, a lot fewer. I’m glad I found them.
Books Smitten 