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Franzen’s “Freedom” the next Oprah Book Club pick?

Jonathan Franzen’s new book has brought forth a stream of criticism of The New York Times‘ sexism and set off a small panic in the publishing world when Obama received an ARC. Now reporters and bloggers are speculating that Freedom will be the choice for the revived Oprah Book Club on Sept. 17.  The topic is particularly surprising since, in 2001, Franzen refused Oprah’s seal of approval for The Corrections, cancelling the induction mid-deal with a series of controversial comments. MobyLives reports:

That was a long time ago, and he made his money (maybe more than if he’d allowed the Oprah deal to go forward, causing some to speculate it was all a ruse), and maybe learned his lesson. And you would think for sure that Oprah learned hers. Hell, after all that nasty stuff Franzen said about her, the industry awarded him the National Book Award, a year after sucking up to her by having her host the event.

Well, you would think wrong. Reliable sources tell me Oprah has selected Franzen’s newest book, Freedom, for her revived book club.

Oprah’s 65th book pick will be announced live on her show on Friday.

By

September 14th, 2010

2:13 pm

Category: Book news

Tagged with: Jonathan Franzen