In October
2001, Franzen achieved
literary notoriety in America, not only for his critically acclaimed and best-selling
novel,
The Corrections, but for being the first
author to publicly express doubts about being chosen by
Oprah Winfrey for
her Book Club. Franzen, long a critic of TV culture, suggested that he was considering turning down the
honor, because her book club
logo on his book's
jacket was advertising for her television show. In addition, the honor would mean joining the company of
Joyce Carol Oates and
Toni Morrison, but also lesser known authors that Franzen doesn't respect:
She's picked some good books, but she's picked enough schmaltzy, one-dimensional ones that I cringe... I feel like I'm
solidly in the high-art literary tradition, but I like to read entertaining books and this maybe helps bridge the gap, but it also heightens these feelings of being misunderstood.
The
New York literary and
publishing community is mostly siding with Oprah, accusing Franzen of being a
snob. According to the New York Times, Franzen's publisher printed 500,000 extra copies upon the news that Oprah had selected the book-- she holds that much
clout in the industry-- which could net Franzen up to $1.5 million USD in royalties. Franzen's comments were thought to
jeopardize his chances of winning the
National Book Award, as they honored Oprah Winfrey with a
medal for her contribution to
literacy in America just a few years ago--but he won anyway. Franzen has since retracted his statements, his publisher is releasing the book both with and without the Oprah Book club logo, and the excess publicity has certainly maintained interest in his novel (a best seller before this controversy anyway).
Franzen now has the distinction of being the only author ever disinvited from appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show, and his book will not be discussed on her show.
Sources:
David D. Kirkpatrick, "'Oprah' Gaffe by Jonathan Franzen Draws
Ire and Sales," New York Times, October 29, 2001.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/29/books/29FRAN.html
Lawrence Donegan, "Oprah's logo is a no go for novelist" The Guardian, October 28, 2001,
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,582148,00.html