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Oprah revealed perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets of her show when she announced Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom would be the next Oprah Book Club selection. Rumors have been rampant for weeks, and the past few days yielded pictures of the book with the “O” symbol on it. It seems that Franzen -- who had previously begged off being part of her book club -- and Oprah have kissed and made up.
I have to make two confessions. First, I don’t read Oprah book club selections. Well, I’ve read a few of them, mostly by accident. While I applaud her efforts to get people reading and will praise her for doing so, I’ve just never really be blown away by her selections.
Secondly, I have not read Franzen’s highly acclaimed novel, The Corrections. It’s partly because I just never really got around to it, but that’s only part of it. Part of it also due to his refusal to be part of the Oprah book club back in 2001.
I know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, I don’t read the book club books, right? My problem came with Franzen’s reported feelings that by being part of the book club he would alienate male readers. Moby Lives quoted him as having said in a radio interview, “I worry — I'm sorry that it's, uh — I had some hope of actually reaching a male audience and I've heard more than one reader in signing lines now at bookstores say 'If I hadn't heard you, I would have been put off by the fact that it is an Oprah pick. I figure those books are for women. I would never touch it. Those are male readers speaking."
I’m a woman. I read. I read quite a lot. I read literary fiction. I read commercial fiction. I read chick-lit. I read romance. I read fantasy. I read young adult literature. I read graphic novels. (Hey, I told you I read a lot.) I am a Reader. What I heard when he said that is that he didn’t want to write for me -- that writing for me was beneath him. His book was already a best seller. He didn’t need Oprah ... or woman readers like me. My reaction was an instinct not to read him, a literary “Bite me!” if you will. If writing for me is beneath you, don’t worry, I won’t read you.
Franzen backtracked on some of his statements, and I do believe that he really didn’t mean to insult anyone. As he pointed out in this New York Times article from 2001, he realized you can’t say things to a reporter the same way you can to your friends. He didn’t take time to polish his remarks before he let them loose. I understand that. I still don’t want to read him. Yes, I am holding a bit of a grudge.
While I’m still holding that grudge, it appears that Oprah is not. On her September 17 show, she announced Franzen’s new novel Freedom as the latest selection for her book club. (Yes, her book club will be continuing as she moves over to her own cable network.) How did it happen? Well, it seems that they managed to set aside their differences. According her statement on the show, Franzen sent her an advanced copy of the book. She loved it and asked his permission to use it as a book club selection because, as she put it, they have a bit of a history. He agreed this time around, and the rest, as they say, is history.
It’s also good discussion fodder.
Anne Moore thinks that you should run, not walk, to get a copy of Freedom, despite Oprah’s endorsement.
Never mind Oprah’s endorsement: buy, borrow, beg, steal Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom.” I have a pre-Oprah copy that’s making its way through my household; my teenage son is reading it, my husband has next dibs, my college-age son is visiting this weekend. We’ll have to hide it from him.
