Emily Magowan
997277316
Readers and Readership
March 13, 2012

The Reading Club

Tags: Book clubs, Oprah Winfrey, Authors, Women characters, Literacy, Society

With the increase of literature and the popularization of books, new commercial heights took book clubs and popularized them with the Oprah Book Club. Once a month, Oprah selected a book, conducted an on-air interview with the author and televised a round-table discussion with viewers. With Oprah selecting a book, she brought authors always to best sellers, even when titles had been languishing with minimal sales for several years (Fitzgerald, 3). From this authors got new book contracts and movie deals, dubbing Oprah their “fairy godmother” (Fitzgerald, 4). Out of the 67 books chosen, most authors were women with strong central women characters. The coming-of-age novel about women, who have endured hardship and emotional challenges, most having themes about discovering one’s inner strength and true identity. Oprah tours bookstores herself and looks up the latest book reviews. “She tends to choose books with major subjects, tough themes, dealing with personal issues- these are not Light stories” (Young, 67).

In the late 18th century the rise of literacy rates rose including print materials. Literacy was initially reserved exclusively for members of upper class society, meaning it was difficult for the general to obtain books. With the rise of print, Sunday Schools introduced reading in groups and authors would hold personal readings in coffee houses to those who were illiterate. With more and more citizens learning how to read, reading became a past time and increased literacy among society in general. “Free libraries and mandatory schooling also had tremendous effects on the rise” (Jacobsohn. 56). Men were the first gender to popularize the concept of a reading groups, and women followed their example. Women had confining social standards, so they used Gothic novels as a way to enter an alternative lifestyle, an escapism. Women slowly shifted their social activities from sewing circles and church groups to forming their own book clubs. “Women initially resorted to book clubs as a way to socialize and discuss daily happenings” (Long, 24). Women in reading groups simply came together to discuss the same issues and dilemmas that men debated (Jacobsohn, 43). Women used reading groups as an outlet too not only socialize, but also to be given an opportunity to have a voice and be heard among peers. Many outsiders’ influences affected the growth and expansion of book clubs. From great wars and the great depression to the evolution of social norms, society rapidly shifted thus enabling more opportunities for the general population. More literate people had access to a wealth of reading material, which naturally led to book-based conversations. People would get together at houses of worship, book stores, school, libraries, and eventually home reading groups and the Internet. (Long, 35).

Oprah’s Book Club has dramatically shifted the balance of power in the publishing world. “People were talking about books in libraries long before the talk-show maven made headlines” (Roberston, 2). We still discuss books at community libraries and even new televised book clubs took Oprah’s place. “Reading with Ripa” on Live with Regis & Kelly and “Read This” on Good Morning America. (Roberston, 3). Oprah’s democratic “Bottom Up” (Farr, 21) style of teaching, getting the less educated readers to try books they might never otherwise read. Oprah’s fiction choices forged a link in the public eye between “social responsibility and literature, particularly regarding race” (Farr, 34). Oprah made it so the gap between white and black readership became a single, popular audience. And the term, “conversation with books” (Brown, 114) became possible for millions of viewers. Many people credit Oprah for popularizing the book club as it is recognized today, but its origins can be traced back to as early as the 1720s.

Work Cited

Fitzgerald, Kate. “Inside Oprahs Book Club.” Writers Digest 2000: 24-7. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 23 Jan. 2012 .

Young, John. “Toni Morrison, Oprah Winfrey, and Postmodern Popular Audiences.” Ed. African American Review. 35.2 (2001): 181-204. Indiana State University. Web. .

Robertson, Deb. “Oprah and Out: Libraries Keep Book Clubs Flourishing.” 33.8 (2002): 52-53. American Library Association. Web. .

Farr, Cecilia K. Reading Oprah: How Oprah’s Book Club Changed the Way America Reads. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004. Print.

Cotten, Trystan T, and Kimberly Springer. Stories of Oprah: The Oprahfication of American Culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010. Print.

Knight, Mélanie J. “We Can’t All Be Oprah”: How Black Women Negotiate Entrepreneurship. , 2008. Print.

Brown, Stephen. Consuming Books: The Marketing and Consumption of Literature. London: Routledge, 2006. Print.

Long, Elizabeth. Book Clubs: Women and the Uses of Reading in Everyday Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Print.

Farr, Cecilia K, and Jaime Harker. The Oprah Affect: Critical Essays on Oprah’s Book Club. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008. Print.

Jacobsohn, Rachel W. The Reading Group Handbook. New York: Hyperion, 1998. Print.