Reading with Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America - Hardcover

"Rooney takes a steady, smart look at a situation that is both fascinating in its own right and deeply revealing about 'how it is' in our cultural life these days." --Sven Birkerts, author of The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age "In her lively, information-filled account of the club's history, Rooney . . . defends Oprah as a genuine 'intellectual force.' . . . Accurately captures the cultural unrest surrounding the Oprah Book Club and raises numerous thoughtful points about its significance." --Publishers Weekly "Rooney's analysis of the Oprah Book Club is both incisive and sympathetic, both scholarly in its methodology and accessible in its presentation. Anyone interested in the multiple diversities which characterize twenty-first century American culture will find Reading with Oprah provocative and entertaining." --Tara Ghoshal Wallace, author of Jane Austen and Narrative Authority Rooney takes a steady, smart look at a situation that is both fascinating in its own right and deeply revealing about how it is in our cultural life these days. Sven Birkerts, author of The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age In her lively, information-filled account of the club s history, Rooney . . . defends Oprah as a genuine intellectual force. . . . Accurately captures the cultural unrest surrounding the Oprah Book Club and raises numerous thoughtful points about its significance. Publishers Weekly Rooney s analysis of the Oprah Book Club is both incisive and sympathetic, both scholarly in its methodology and accessible in its presentation. Anyone interested in the multiple diversities which characterize twenty-first century American culture will find Reading with Oprah provocative and entertaining. Tara Ghoshal Wallace, author of Jane Austen and Narrative Authority"

Exploring the myths and presuppositions surrounding the Oprah Book Club, this text reveals its complex and far-reaching cultural influence, confronting head-on how the club became a crucible for the heated clash between 'high' and 'low' literary taste.