Annoyed
I hate Oprah and her TV show. I specially hate her book clubs. I hate the way she reduces literature to the "chicken soup for the soul" kitsch. And I hate all those people who buy books based on her recommendation and then look for "life affirming" messages inside those books.
I am following this controversy about James Frey with amused disgust. Now it seems Oprah has publicly rebuked Frey for telling lies in his memoir, as the new york times reports.
It annoys me to death when the inspirational power of a book (or for that matter a film) is used as the sole justification for its artistic merits. I have absolutely no time and no respect for a writer who doesn't value the intellectual autonomy of the reader and instead focuses on ploys to pull at reader's heartstrings.
More articles from Slate on the subject here and here
And column in Washington Post and another fine essay in the new york times
3 comments:
Just when I thought I had enough reasons to loathe Oprah...That serious, self-righteous tone with which she apologizes to her audience about this book...ugh.
JT Frey should return to TV and encourage people to do *more* drugs. Just to mess up the "inspired" people.
krishna
I doubt that would work :)
I was reading a few message boards related to this news and there were fans of the book claiming, how this book changed their lives and how they couldn't care less about factual errors because the book was "emotionally true"!
:)
hopefully, it will balance all the love that oprah inspires !
Post a Comment