Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club to Make New Selection

Aug. 26, 2009 - PRLog -- Rumor has it that another dark horse is about to win the “Oprah” literary award, otherwise known as the Oprah Winfrey Book Club Selection.  The power of Oprah Winfrey to influence the book market has eclipsed that of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award combined.

Business Week went so far as to claim that Oprah’s influence is 20 to 100 times more important than her next nearest competitor.  The numbers are unmistakable, which at the height of the book club craze were estimated to be close to 500,000 extra books sold a month in the US.

Some argue the merit of the Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club Selections.  For example, do we really need Oprah to explain to us that East of Eden, One Hundred Years of Solitude or Anna Karenina are worthwhile reads?   But those pundits who attack Oprah’s Book Club Selection miss the entire point.  She is getting people to read undeniable classics, as well as introducing them to current writers.

The new selection for this year’s Oprah Winfrey Book Club Selection will be announced on September 18, 2009.  Oprah sent out a Twitter to let us know the game is on, and now the big question, who will win the most important (sales wise) literary award in the world?  One dark horse is an underground novel that has picked up a lot of momentum in the last two months,Cactus Land, written by first time author Robert Bonomo.  The novel has an apocalyptic/spiritual ending that I can see Oprah being able to get her teeth into.

Whoever wins, the Oprah Winfrey Book Club Selection is good for publishers and for reading in general.  Her enthusiasm for books is something that is desperately lacking in our culture.  One of the last year’s winners, The New Earth, even turned into a 10 hour webinar with Oprah and author Eckhart Tolle.  It is a good thing for books that people like Oprah can bring so much passion to reading.

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