The Curse of the Literary O

So yesterday, I told my friend Vic some news that she was going to hate, and I enjoyed delivering the bad news so much that it made me smile and laugh about it when I called her.

No, I was not calling her about the latest, most decidedly permanent Ben Affleck-J. Lo breakup.

I asked Vic if she'd ever read ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She told me that she had and that it was really, really good. But, when I told her that I'd bought it, she told me that it wasn't the sort of thing that I'd find interesting.

Vic says I only like books with gay characters or books that are about to be made into movies.

"Everyone in college told me I'd like it," I said. "And now, there's another reason why I feel I should read it."

"What's that?" Vic asked. "Are they making it into a movie?"

"No," I said. "It's worse than that."

"You're reading it because a guy you like recommended it?" she asked.

"Worse," I said.

"What is it?" Vic asked.

"Oprah," I said. "It's the new book from Oprah's Book Club."

Vic paused for a minute, then said, "You're KIDDING ..."

I giggled and said, "Yep, housewives have started asking for it at the bookstore."

"DAMMIT, why did SHE have to go and do this?" Vic asked me. "She takes perfectly good classic books - my FAVORITE books - and RUINS them."

I remember when Vic vowed to me, at the outset of Oprah's Book Club, that she would never read an Oprah book.

When Oprah started to pick books that Vic had already read and recommended, Vic felt personally violated.

"Why did she have to go and pick DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE?" Vic asked. "THAT'S A GOOD BOOK ..."

I don't know what Vic's particular issue is with Oprah, but I think it has something to do with Vic trying to be anti-mainstream, avoiding books that are popular. If she takes the time to seek out something brilliant, fascinating and unknown, she feels like she's discovered something. I mean, the girl devours books. Reads three novels a week. It's crazy.

She avoids bestsellers. She trusts instincts over reviews.

And when Oprah gives a seal of approval to one of Vic's beloved, unknown novels, it makes Vic angry.

Oprah's recent focus on classic literature, like EAST OF EDEN and ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, made Vic feel like Oprah was invading her territory.

I don't know why, but I always found Vic's beef with Oprah to be really, really funny. Once, I got Vic to read THE CORRECTIONS - even though it was once an Oprah book - because I told her that its author, Jonathan Franzen, changed his mind about Oprah's endorsement and got himself kicked off her show.

My personal thoughts on Oprah's Book Club are different. I think she picks good books. I think she encourages reading. And I think she makes difficult books, like Toni Morrison and the classics, seem suddenly more accessible to general people.

I don't often buy Oprah books. I don't read deeper novels very often - maybe one a year.

Yet I picked up ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE after Oprah recommended it because, for some reason, it felt like something I could grasp, rather than not.