Malicious entertainment?

[jmc_bks]

Is it malicious to be entertained by the fact that one of Oprah's book picks, Million Little Pieces by James Frey, has been declared a fraud by The Smoking Gun, and the publisher is offering refunds for books purchased directly from them? I like Oprah, don't get me wrong, but I've never been impressed with her book club for a variety of reasons. First, I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the literary fiction being published today; I think it's pretentious and depressing, for the most part. Second, I've already read most of the classics she used, mostly in high school or college. Where is the average American going to school if they haven't read anything at all by Tolstoy or Garcia Marquez? What are literature classes teaching? Third, being told what to read reminds me of middle school and high school, when I had to select books from a reading list, then take canned tests about them every week or so. And fourth, I always get the feeling that her book selections are made to improve the average American and his/her reading habits; self-improvement is good, but mine doesn't need to be directed by a millionaire stranger living in Chicago, thank you.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I was an English major and never read Tolstoy or Garcia Marquez.

~Nicole

But you've probably read...

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

some of the other authors that are on her lists. John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Maya Angelou, James Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Toni Morrison, etc.

Truly, my literature teachers in high school were absolutely awesome, which I only realize in retrospect.