ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 12, 1997 TAG: 9704140041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: a cuppa joe
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY
When Oprah Winfrey talks, people listen. When she talks about books, they go to bookstores and libraries in search of the titles she recommends.
For librarians, this is wonderful. They love to see customers come through the door. It's also terrible. They don't like to tell them they'll have to wait until the book they desire becomes available.
For six months, Winfrey has recommended one book per month during her afternoon talk show. Each has benefited dramatically from the exposure.
"Our dilemma has been that we don't get a whole lot of advance warning on what she's going to do," says Spencer Watts, director of the Roanoke County library. "So far I think we've had them all, but not in sufficient quantities to always meet the demand."
For example, 62 people in the county and 96 in the valley are on the waiting list for Jacqueline Mitchard's "The Deep End of the Ocean," one of Oprah's early picks, published in 1996, says Diana Rosapepe, assistant library director in the county.
Area libraries have 37 copies they can circulate - thanks mostly to Oprah.
Originally, it sold 100,000 hardcover copies. Now, 915,000 copies are in print.
`Get the whole country reading'
"This has created quite a stir among libraries because the demand for her books is just really strong, but there is no warning for what they're going to be," says Susan Ewald, head of circulation services in Roanoke. "It's kept very secret. She wants it to be a surprise."
When Oprah touted Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone," phones began ringing right away. But neither the book nor the author had been well known.
The city library had just one copy. Now there are 10 copies, systemwide, and 21 people are waiting to read one.
A major wholesaler has begun taking advance orders for Winfrey's choices, but librarians never know what book it will be.
Winfrey's goal is "to get the whole country reading again."
Naturally, critics from the literary establishment have had difficulty accepting her influence. Alfred Kazim compared Oprah's Book Club - including taped excerpts of book discussions among her and selected viewers - to the "carpet bombing of the American mind." Others grudgingly acknowledge its effectiveness.
Not `light and funny' reading
Winfrey's selections have muted much of the criticism. Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" examines the life of the black poor. "She's Come Undone" told of a young woman's eating disorder. Ursula Hegi's "Stones From the River" described a dwarf's growing up in Nazi Germany.
"I want novels that are deep, engaging and fun," Winfrey told the Washington Post - which went on to note that "Stones From the River," though turned into a best seller by her blessing, brought only two or three bins of mail compared to the 20 or 30 its predecessors inspired.
Early demand in these parts has been lower for her latest choice, Sheri Reynolds' "Rapture of Canaan." Valley libraries have five hardback copies and three paperbacks.
"The books she's choosing are not for everyone," Ewald said.
Once, a woman from Oprah's audience beseeched her to recommend something "light and funny." Winfrey said, "I don't read anything light and funny."
This puts her in a familiar place in American culture - the icon with a target on her back. She's condemned by the intelligentsia for being too popular and, by implication, superficial, and criticized by the masses for failing to satisfy their hunger for literary Pop-Tarts.
Ain't it a wonderful world?
What's your story? Call me at 981-3256, send e-mail to joek@roanoke.com or write to P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
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