Essays explore the broad  cultural impact of Oprah’s Book Club.The Oprah Affect explores the cultural  impact of Oprah’s Book Club,...
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											particularly  in light of debates about the definition and purpose of literature in American  culture. For the critics collected here, Oprah’s Book Club stands, in  the context of American literary history, not as an egregious undermining of  who we are and what we represent, as some have maintained, but as the latest  manifestation of a tradition that encourages symbiotic relationships between  readers and texts. Powered by women writers and readers, novels in this  tradition attract crowds, sell well, and make unabashed appeals to emotion. The  essays consider the interlocking issues of affect, affinity, accessibility, and  activism in the context of this tradition. Juxtaposing book history; reading  practices; literary analysis; feminist criticism; and communication, religious,  political, and cultural studies; the contributors map a range of possibilities  for further research on Oprah’s Book Club.A  complete chronological list of Book Club picks is included.“Solidly,  Farr and Harker’s The Oprah Affect has  much intellectual heft substantiated by critiques that are profoundly  thought-provoking. Its arguments clearly present what impact the Oprah Affect  has on its readers and viewers.†— Afro-Americans  in New York  Life and History“…the essays here concern  themselves largely with the book club’s emphasis on its primarily female  readers’ emotional responses to literature, transforming reading into a social  event … Presenting a variety of perspectives and views, this collection  provides a diverse analysis of this social phenomenon.†— CHOICE“This  collection is important not only for those interested in Oprah’s Book Club, but  also for all of us who are interested in contemporary reading practices and, in  particular, the sociology of literature. The theoretical foundations found in  the various essays are wide-ranging, and the research methods used and  discussed illustrate the exciting potential of reading scholarship. This is a  valuable collection that will appeal to students and scholars across the  academy.†— DeNel Rehberg Sedo, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityContributors  include Timothy Aubry, Kimberly Chabot Davis, Kate Douglas, Cecilia Konchar  Farr, R. Mark Hall, Jaime Harker, Kelley Penfield Lewis, Kathryn Lofton,  Michael A. Perry, Kevin Quirk, Ana Patricia RodrÃguez, Kathleen Rooney, Simon  Stow, Juliette Wells, Virginia Wells, and Yung-Hsing Wu.
											
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