But here is the cute little open O logo – smiley face without the dots – and once a month it shows up on another book. So far it’s on over 40 books and it has its own set of racks in every superstore, where those O's catch your eye like multiple TVs on a wall at the Wiz.

And this O is oh so familiar and well designed and it does have personality.

I’d bet that after a reader spends hour after hour with those books and that O – after having that O in her bedroom, kitchen, even in the bath, after having that O reinforced on a magazine he sees every time he goes to the supermarket or tunes it at 4 – I’d bet that the O starts to mean these books are Oprah's books. These books are Oprah’s, every bit as much, if not more so, than they are the author's books or the book itself's book.

After all – don't all these readers know Oprah so very well? Isn't she part of their lives? Whereas none of them know the author.

Knowing the author is not normally the reason to buy a book. And I think might be why there might be some Oprah Book Club backlash. The author and the book do in a way become secondary. The book becomes part of an oeuvre; not the author's oeuvre, but Oprah's.

Through what I believe is a genuine and true love of books and reading, Oprah has become perhaps the first visible, standalone arbiter of what to read for millions of people – and for this she deserves thanks. But something has happened along the way, which I would guess she never intended.

Critics recommend, but most reviewers present their opinions in the neutral third person, never writing "I," "me," or "my." We may know the byline of an NYT reviewer – but as a byline only. And we may have heard of the institutions and award committees that are touting this or that title, but none them are individuals, or have a personality, as far as the average reader is concerned.

Only Oprah has that.

And perhaps that might have something to do with why Mr. Franzen did and said things that seemed to be a bit self-serving, or even self-destructive and impolite.

Maybe he was not reacting to the subliminal messages even he has gotten about that O. For while he may not watch TV, he does go to bookstores and sees those O's.

Maybe he would not have minded being an "Oprah pick." But what he could not abide was that most people don't call them that – they call them "Oprah books" – even though she hasn't written a word in them.

Previous Page

<---------------------------•••••--------------------------->

M.J. Rose has written two novels that Oprah has not picked (though Rose would be delighted if she did), and a non fiction title about e-publishing. Her previous musings about the Oprahfication of books appeared in this column years ago (read it here) She writes a weekly column, E-Publishing Ink, for Wired.com.

Oprah Illustration from www.melart.com
Photomodified by Oates