HONESTY WORKS FOR BOOK SALES.Byline: Valerie Takahama Orange County Register In the end, perhaps what mattered most in the world of books in 1996 was honesty: the exuberant honesty of Oprah Winfrey “Oprah” redirects here. For the show, see The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is the American multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated talk show in television history. , who launched an on-the-air book club that sent books flying up best-sellers lists, and the emotional honesty of literary memoirists who bared their souls and saw their books reach readers, too. Let's start with the doyenne doy·enne n. A woman who is the eldest or senior member of a group. [French, feminine of doyen, senior member; see doyen.] Noun 1. of daytime talk. Declaring that she wanted to get ``the whole country reading again,'' Winfrey announced in September that she was forming Oprah's Book Club, a periodic feature on her show to highlight new and old works of fiction. Within days of Winfrey's on-air raves, the first two novels she picked for discussion - ``The Deep End of the Ocean'' by Jacquelyn Mitchard, a first-time novelist, and ``Song of Solomon'' by Toni Morrison Noun 1. Toni Morrison - United States writer whose novels describe the lives of African-Americans (born in 1931) Chloe Anthony Wofford, Morrison , the Nobel Prize-winning novelist - shot to the top of best-sellers lists. In fact, Morrison's paperback publisher saw higher demand for ``Song of Solomon'' after the book club announcement than after Morrison was awarded the world's most prestigious literary award in 1993. Industry watchers weren't surprised that Winfrey turned out to be a great book seller. According to one publishing expert, ``her viewers understand that when Oprah talks about a book, it's not something she's been pitched by a publisher; it's something that she has loved.'' A similarly frank, intimate tone undoubtedly had much to do with the success of another trend that made a big impact on publishing this year: the literary memoir or confessional memoir. These are real-life stories by not-so-famous people who write vividly and candidly - and, in some cases, with great humor - about truths in their past, no matter how tough or painful. Many credit ``The Liars' Club,'' Mary Karr's darkly funny tale of growing up with hard-drinking parents in a Texas oil-refinery town, which became a best seller in paperback this year, with helping to popularize pop·u·lar·ize tr.v. pop·u·lar·ized, pop·u·lar·iz·ing, pop·u·lar·iz·es 1. To make popular: A famous dancer popularized the new hairstyle. 2. the genre. Another painful childhood - this one darkened dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. by Depression poverty and a father's alcoholism but infused with Irish humor - was examined in Frank McCourt's current best seller, ``Angela's Ashes,'' considered by some critics to be among the best books of the year. This rich chorus of memoirs has added to the resurgence of literary nonfiction in general. On the down side, though, some in the world of letters believe that the novel is losing its footing as the pre-eminent literary form of the serious writer. This year, editors of The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Book Review found just one novel - ``The Moor's Last Sigh'' by Salman Rushdie, his first since ``The Satanic Verses'' - as worthy of inclusion among the best books of the year. Still, brand-name authors may be content to let the literati literati Scholars in China and Japan whose poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were supposed primarily to reveal their cultivation and express their personal feelings rather than demonstrate professional skill. grumble among themselves. After all, 1996 was a banner year for Michael Crichton, who had successes in television with ``ER'' and in the movies with ``Twister'' and now has a new novel out, ``Airframe.'' A pair of writers, Danielle Steel and Mary Higgins Clark Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark Conheeney, best known as Mary Higgins Clark, (b December 24, 1927 in the Bronx, New York) is an American author of suspense novels. , must be celebrating 1996. They each had not one but two books on the best-seller lists during the year: ``Silent Honor'' and ``Malice'' for Steel, and ``Moonlight Becomes You'' and ``My Gal Sunday'' for Clark. Judgments of quality aside, you've got to applaud the industry of these authors. Projections With the wild success in 1996 of several celebrity autobiographies - from ``Bad as I Wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? Be'' by Dennis Rodman to ``My Story'' by Sarah, the Duchess of York Duchess of York is a title held by the wife of the Duke of York since the first Duke of York in 1384. The title is gained with matrimony alone and is forfeited on divorce. - look for more self-penned life stories by celebs such as Jenny McCarthy and Carlos Leon. The O.J. Simpson saga proved another subject of seemingly endless fascination in 1996 and spawned numerous best sellers, including ``In Contempt'' by Christopher A. Darden with Jess Walter, ``Outrage'' by Vincent Bugliosi, ``American Tragedy'' by Lawrence Schiller and James Willwerth, and ``The Run of His Life'' by Jeffrey Toobin. Marcia Clark, we're waiting. Books for people who don't much like to read are phenomenally popular. Check it out - the best-seller lists are packed with books surprisingly short on text: two books by Dilbert creator Scott Adams; ``Down in the Garden'' by Anne Geddes, described as ``photographs of infants dressed up as flora and fauna, with brief comments''; and ``Everyone Is Entitled to My Opinion,'' newscaster David Brinkley's brief commentaries on news events. Count on more books with lots of white space. Most memorable Grace under pressure: Poland's most famous poet, Wislawa Szymborska, 73, wins the Nobel Prize in literature The Nobel Prize in Literature (Swedish: Nobelpriset i litteratur) is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency" (original Swedish: and wins over the audience at the awards ceremony in Stockholm with her humility and awkward charm. A real `Bastard': Anjelica Huston's powerfully realistic film version of ``Bastard Out of Carolina,'' Dorothy Allison's award-winning novel about child abuse, airs on Showtime after media mogul Ted Turner dumped it from TNT TNT: see trinitrotoluene. TNT in full trinitrotoluene Pale yellow, solid organic compound made by adding nitrate (−NO2) groups to toluene. cable. Look who's doing book signings: Salman Rushdie, who has lived under threat of death since the publication of ``The Satanic Verses'' in 1989, continues to emerge from hiding. He makes a surprise appearance on Phil Donahue's show and signs copies of his new novel, ``The Moor's Last Sigh,'' at a Manhattan bookstore in mid-January. Fabulous Ford: Richard Ford, a great American writer, wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction n. A person who writes about sports, especially for a newspaper or magazine. sports .'' It's never too late: Poet Virginia Hamilton Adair Virginia Hamilton Adair (February 28, 1913, New York City - September 16 2004, Claremont, California) was an American poet who became famous later in life with the 1996 publication of "Ants on the Melon". publishes her first volume of verse, ``Ants on the Melon,'' at 83. The collection becomes a poetry best seller. Most forgettable for·get·ta·ble adj. Fit or apt to be forgotten: a movie with very forgettable characters. Adj. 1. forgettable - easily forgotten unforgettable - impossible to forget `I am Anonymous': Former Newsweek political columnist Joe Klein finds himself in hot water after it's revealed that he is the anonymous author of ``Primary Colors,'' a best-selling political novel presumed to be about the 1992 Clinton campaign. What a drag: Dennis Rodman dresses in drag to promote his autobiography, ``Bad as I Wanna Be Bad As I Wanna Be is the 1997 autobiography of basketball player Dennis Rodman. .'' Retro `Rules': ``The Rules'' by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider offers retrograde dating tips to women. What a tangled web: Dick Morris, President Clinton's disgraced former strategist, signs a book deal while working for the president and deliberately deceives his boss about it. Is there a sequel?: Gymnast Dominique Moceaunu, 14, writes an autobiography. The New York Times' picks The New York Times Sunday Book Review section's Top 10 list this year only had eight titles on it. They are, in alphabetical order: 1. ``After Rain'' by William Trevor 2. ``Angela's Ashes: A Memoir'' by Frank McCourt 3. ``Bad Land: An American Romance'' by Jonathan Raban 4. ``The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant'' 5. ``The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer, 1908-1958'' by Cary Reich 6. ``The Moor's Last Sigh'' by Salman Rushdie 7. ``Selected Stories'' by Alice Munro 8. ``The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions'' by David Quammen Time Magazine's picks Fiction and poetry 1. ``The Moor's Last Sigh'' by Salman Rushdie 2. ``Infinite Jest'' by David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (born February 21 1962) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Biography Wallace was born in Ithaca, New York to James Donald Wallace and Sally Foster Wallace. James Wallace had recently finished his Ph.D. 3. ``The Tailor of Panama'' by John le Carre Noun 1. John le Carre - English writer of novels of espionage (born in 1931) David John Moore Cornwell, le Carre 4. ``Ants on the Melon'' by Virginia Hamilton Adair 5. Homer's ``The Odyssey'' translated by Robert Fagles Nonfiction 1. ``Angela's Ashes'' by Frank McCourt 2. ``Hitler's Willing Executioners'' by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen 3. ``Red China Blues'' by Jan Wong 4. ``A Life of Picasso: 1907-1917'' by John Richardson 5. ``My Dark Places'' by James Ellroy Quotes of the year ``For God's sake, definitely, I didn't write it.'' - Joe Klein, last February, denying he wrote ``Primary Colors'' ``My name is Joe Klein, and I wrote `Primary Colors.' '' - Joe Klein, in July, admitting he did write the book CAPTION(S): 4 Photos Photo: (1) Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime talk shows, started an on-the-air book club, saying she wanted to get the country reading again. The exposure put books on the best-sellers lists. (2) It was a good year for Michael Crichton, who had successes in TV with ``ER'' and in the movies with ``Twister,'' plus a new novel, ``Airframe.'' (3) Salman Rushdie, who has lived under threat of death from Islamic fundamentalists, emerged from hiding to promote his new book, ``The Moor's Last Sigh.'' (4) Among the more memorable literary moments in 1996 was Dennis Rodman dressing in drag to promote his autobiography, ``Bad as I Wanna Be.'' |
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