Stories of Oprah

This is a perceptive collection of essays examining how Oprah Winfrey has gone from chat show host to cultural icon and one of the world's most influential people. "Stories of Oprah" brings together a collection of essays that explore Oprah Winfrey's broad reach as an industry and media brand and the ways in which her cultural output has shaped contemporary American society. Written in a revealing and insightful manner, the essays examine a number of topics, including how Oprah has fashioned a persona - which emphasizes her rural, poverty-stricken roots - that has helped her popularize her unique brand of spirituality, politics, and thinking; how her Book Club has reshaped American literary publishing, bringing writers such as Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy to the attention of the general population; and how her pioneering use of the 'confessional' style talk-show has influenced mainstream broadcasting. This is a must-have volume for anyone interested in understanding how Oprah Winfrey has gone from day-time talk-show host to the person CNN called 'arguably the world's most powerful woman'.