Oprah's book club picks falling short
Sales of Oprah's 2010 Book Club picks, Charles Dickens's 'A Tale of Two Cities' and 'Great Expectations,' are falling short of the the 'Oprah effect.'
Penguin's two-book e-book version of Charles Dickens's 'A Tale of Two Cities' and 'Great Expectations' was ranked only #351 on Amazon's sales list Sunday.
It was the best of times 鈥� Oprah Winfrey selecting two works by Charles Dickens for .
It was the worst of times 鈥� sales of 鈥淎 Tale of Two Cities鈥� and 鈥淕reat Expectations鈥� are falling far short of 鈥淥prah effect鈥� expectations, according to media accounts.
The classic books are already widely owned, noted an , which might explain why they aren鈥檛 seeing the blockbuster sales of other Winfrey choices. Or, the article noted, another issue might have affected sales: Readers can get both books for free.
鈥淔or the first time since the emergence of the Kindle and the explosion of the e-book market, Winfrey's choice was in the 'public domain,' " AP reporter Hillel Italie wrote. 鈥淭he copyright on Dickens' books long expired, so they can be sold by anyone, at any price, in any format. The Penguin paperback is listed at $20, and an e-edition prepared by Penguin costs $7.99. But both novels are widely available for free, as Amazon made clear in a press statement on the day of Winfrey's announcement.鈥�
The choices have also (as many Oprah picks do) come under some fire. The New Republic complained that Winfrey, who has not previously read the books, was wrongly selling them as a light holiday read and would bring little to the discussion. Oprah fans 鈥渕ust now scramble about to decipher Dickens鈥檚 obscure dialectical styling and his long-lost euphemisms鈥攁nd the sad truth is that, with no real guidance, readers cannot grow into lovers of the canon,鈥� said. reviewed that critique and piled on more, saying, 鈥淭o treat serious literature as fun is an admirable way to get people reading Dickens, but if Oprah's teaching leaves thousands of readers misinformed or confused, is that really responsible?鈥�
A number of commenters tweaked those assumptions, saying, for instance, that the books had not seemed so obscure and difficult when they first encountered them in middle school English class.
One wrote, 鈥淚t seems kind of ironic we're talking about Dickens here...wasn't he kind of the original mass market writer? (Besides, you know, Shakespeare.) These are books that were written as entertainment for the masses.鈥�
As far as sales go, Penguin's $7.99 e-book version of the two novels ranked only #351 on Amazon.com鈥檚 sales list of Kindle e-books Sunday night (the print copy ranked #237). But on Amazon鈥檚 list of free Kindle books, "A Tale of Two Cities" ranked #18, with a free copy of "Great Expectations" at #35.
Beating them both? The masses were seeking out yet another free Dickens book, unbothered by the lack of either celebrity endorsement or scholarly assistance: The seasonal classic 鈥淎 Christmas Carol鈥� ranked #6.
Rebekah Denn blogs at
Join the Monitor's book discussion on and .