Just when you thought that Oprah had confined herself to dead writers and the “Summer of Faulkner,” Oprah recently announced a return to living writers. Her first new book along these lines is actually quite interesting: James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces. I must confess that I’m highly amused at the idea of suburbanites in upstate New York and Orange County reading Frey’s gritty memoir. But if this represents the timbre of Oprah’s future offerings, then Return of the Reluctant strongly endorses the Oprah Book Club revival with the following proviso: No more Wally Lamb! Let’s see the Oprah Book Club dig up the kind of books that will provide a much needed jolt for soccer moms.
You underestimate soccor moms—they are roiling, banked ovens of passion and engagement.
I’d worry more about the androidal Ipod people.
Don’t forget upstate New York included Ithaca — which routinely has socialist mayors, Woodstock, and many other suburban places which are more complex than usually assumed.