72 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
of the hard-boiled conventions. Along these same lines, one could offer a
gender comparison, investigating the effect of having a female detective, as in
Paretsky’s novels. Similar questions related to other genres might be explored.- Students interested in the sociology of reading and the blurring of lines
between high culture and popular culture might wish to investigate the history
and dynamics of “Oprah’s Book Club,” sponsored by popular and influential
television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. Begun in 1996, it became power-
ful enough to catapult Winfrey’s selections immediately onto best-seller lists.
Although sometimes accused of promoting texts focusing on situations of
domestic abuse, the list has ranged from works by Nobel Prize winners such
as William Faulkner, Gabriel García Márquez, and Toni Morrison to popular
romance writers such as Maeve Binchy and Anita Shreve. At least two major
controversies have sprung up over Winfrey’s selections: in 2001 she chose Jon-
athan Franzen’s The Corrections (2001), but he publicly disavowed the choice,
saying that while some of her choices were good books, he did not like the idea
of being in the same company as many of the other “schmaltzy” choices she
had made and that he had been hoping to attract a male audience. Students
might research and examine this controversy for what it tells us about assump-
tions regarding “good” literature versus “reading for the masses” and about how
male and female audiences are targeted. The article by Timothy Aubry, which
focuses on Winfrey’s discussion of Toni Morrison’s Paradise (1998), would be
useful for this undertaking. The second Winfrey controversy arose over James
Frey’s A Million Little Pieces (2003). A story of alcoholism, drug addiction, and
a criminal career, it was published as a memoir. After Winfrey’s show focused
on it, allegations surfaced that much of it was fiction. Winfrey eventually con-
fronted Frey and his publisher, Nan Talese, on another show. This controversy
could be explored to examine contemporary attitudes toward fact and fiction,
and where and how we draw that line. Several other topics might be developed
from an exploration of Oprah’s Book Club, including why it has been so popu-
lar, why she has made some of the choices she has, and, from a sociological
perspective for advanced students, how and why people bond over the books
that they read.
RESOURCES
Criticism
M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas, The Science Fiction Handbook (Mal-
den, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).
Provides a brief introduction to the genre, including discussions of various sub-
categories and representative authors and texts.
Mark Bould, Andrew M. Butler, Adam Roberts, and Sherryl Vint, eds., The Rout-
ledge Companion to Science Fiction (New York: Routledge, 2009).
Comprehensive resource that includes a chronological overview of the genre.
Ken Gelder, Popular Fiction: The Logics and Practices of a Literary Field (New York:
Routledge, 2004).