On the Next Oprah, Books

Oprah Winfrey is, by any measure, a phenomenon. Host of “Oprah,” the highest-rated talk show in television history, she is seen by as many as 20 million viewers a day in the United States and syndicated in 120 countries.

Now she has turned her attention to the world of books, launching in October Oprah’s Book Club, a segment on her talk show. Her praise of particular works--for example, Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” and Jacquelyn Mitchard’s first novel, “The Deep End of the Ocean”--has sent thousands of people scurrying into the bookstores and propelling those works onto the bestseller lists. Television exposure, she well understands, can boost a book’s sales. She is determined to persist in her crusade to, as she says, “get the country reading again.”

For more information, contact: Oprah’s Book Club, P.O. Box 617640, Chicago, IL 60661.