US novelists beg Oprah for help..oprah save us..

[KiwiCoromandel]

Oprah, save us, we can't get by without you.

That's the message from a group of published and award-winning novelists in an open letter to influential television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, begging her to resume picking new novels for members of her popular book club.

"There's a widely-held belief that the landscape of literary fiction is now a gloomy place," Word of Mouth, a loose alliance of women's authors, wrote. It said fiction sales began to plummet when the The Oprah Winfrey Book Club went off the air in 2002 and stopped featuring contemporary authors.

read more......

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_entertainment_...0%3fformat=html

[slum_goddess]

There's a widely-held belief that the landscape of literary fiction is now a gloomy place," Word of Mouth, a loose alliance of women's authors, wrote. It said fiction sales began to plummet when the The Oprah Winfrey Book Club went off the air in 2002 and stopped featuring contemporary authors.

because the public doesn't have a fucking clue (they need oprah to point the way to books). hey amerikan dumbasses--start w/sinclair lewis and mark twain and edgar allen poe and forget about those bestseller lists (of shite)!

[Kooperman]

because the public doesn't have a fucking clue (they need oprah to point the way to books). hey amerikan dumbasses--start w/sinclair lewis and mark twain and edgar allen poe and forget about those bestseller lists (of shite)!

Don't forget large doses of John Steinbeck too....

[Wolfie]

because the public doesn't have a fucking clue (they need oprah to point the way to books).

No wonder they elected someone who does not even read the newspaper.

[DudeAsInCool]

Hey SG--why are you knocking Oprah or the contemporary literary scene. What's the point? What is negative about Oprah promoting new authors? And why shouldnt praise be given to new works, too? With that kind of attitude, people would be told to listen to only Cole Porter or Mozart instead of Alabama 3

[slum_goddess]

Don't forget large doses of John Steinbeck too....

everyone over here and in DE loves him.

Hey SG--why  are you knocking Oprah or the contemporary literary scene. 

i have a thing about most media role models, especially those who push female-oriented anything, i find most of that sort of pastel thing boring and/or embarrassing (and at the very least, dumbed-down). can you give me a name of a contemporary literary person, one that you recommend? the first one that comes to mind is camille paglia but i think you're meaning fiction authors, right?

[DudeAsInCool]

i have a thing about most media role models, especially those who push female-oriented anything, i find most of that sort of pastel thing boring and/or embarrassing (and at the very least, dumbed-down).

can you give me a name of a contemporary literary person, one that you recommend? the first one that comes to mind is camille paglia but i think you're meaning fiction authors, right?

But you've never even seen Oprah! Why not give praise to anyone who makes the world a little better and more informed?

As to your questions:

The New Yorker is a salute to the best writers working today. Off the top of my head--in terms of non-fiction novelists, I like Deve Eggars and Michael Chabon. In terms of non-fiction, Tom Wolfe, Kevin Philips and Studs Terkel... I would also arge that sometimes, screenplays and teleplays approach the same artistry as novelists, and that some of our best writers are working in Hollywood today.

We probably have just as many great writers living today, as in the past. However, the

media age we live in tends to dwarf them.

[slum_goddess]

yes i have seen oprah, unfortunately, here and there in places like doctor's waiting rooms (NYC) where you can't turn her off.

very diplomatic of you (as usual) to put it like this: 'the media age tends to dwarf them.' yeah, one could say that. or one could put it like i do.

[DudeAsInCool]

very diplomatic of you (as usual) to put it like this: 'the media age tends to dwarf them.' yeah, one could say that. or one could put it like i do.

Im exposed/fucked once again

[slum_goddess]

heh. (*blows it by laughing my ass off*)

edit: i'm not sorry i'm an intellectual snob who looks down on jackie what'shername and self-help books ('i'm OK, y'all suck balls').