Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment To Live As TV's Most Influential Guru Advises (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Living Oprah by Robyn OkrantI never would have thought I’d be found reading a book with Oprah’s name in the title. I tend to avoid even the Oprah book club selections, not because I have anything personally against her, but because it doesn't seem right that anyone should have as much influence over people’s lives as she has now. I don’t think we should give that much control to anybody so I’ve shied away from getting too involved. Also, like a lot of other people, book hype pushes me away from a book rather than toward it and let’s face it, any book with her name in the title is going to get hype. However, I have a friend whose reading tastes are very similar to mine and she thought I’d enjoy it as a light read, so I agreed to try it.The author decided that for a period of one year, Jan 1-Dec 31, she would watch the Oprah show daily and follow every suggestion Oprah gave. It was a sort of sociological experiment to see why people are so devoted to the megastar/media mogul. She bought the clothes Oprah said everyone “must” have, used her decorating ideas, exercised and ate as Oprah said she should (signing a contract along with millions of other followers to be her “best self”) and conducted relationships with her friends and her husband according to Oprah’s suggestions. She tried the recipes and products the show promoted and followed her ideas for keeping a clean house (aware of the irony that Oprah probably hasn’t done her own housework in a long time). I was exhausted at the end of her year and I just read about it; I can only imagine how she felt.I was afraid when I began the book that it would be a gushing testimonial to how amazing and wonderful Oprah is, but it wasn’t that at all. The author was honest about what worked and what didn’t. Some of her experiments changed her life for the good, others not so much. At times the project put a strain on her marriage and on their finances but on the whole her husband supported her. What I found interesting was that when the year was over and Jan 1 rolled around again, she had difficulty stopping. She had let Oprah do so much of her thinking for her and make so many of her decisions that it was hard to cut the cord and be her own person again. That, to me, was rather alarming and just increased my uneasiness about the whole Oprah-mania thing. All in all it was an interesting experiment to read about. The author writes well and is able to keep the reader interested from start to finish. Any frustration I felt was more with Oprah than with the author’s experience. It surprises me that Oprah, who I believe is a intelligent woman, still considers herself a credible source of wisdom and advice for the ordinary American woman who struggles to make ends meet while holding down a job, raising kids, keeping a marriage healthy and a house clean and organized. Maybe she did begin to see the growing gulf that separates her from other women and maybe that’s partly why she stopped doing the show, who knows?I want to be clear that though I'm not an Oprah fan, I'm also not an Oprah-basher. She built a fabulous life and career for herself from very humble beginnings and I admire that. Also her philanthropy is well known and commendable; there's no question she has done a lot of good. Whether you’re a fan or not, this book makes for interesting reading so I do recommend it. Oh dear, what can I say about this book that crashed my high expectations? I saw this on a to-read list of a friend on GoodReads, and it immediately appealed to me. I love experiment books. I love Oprah. A combination could only be the high spot of reading, no? I expected funny. I expected witty. I expected a light, entertaining read that would tickle me.I didn't get that. Okrant did, indeed, watch every Oprah show for a year. She did, indeed, read every episode of O magazine. And she attempted to do every single thing that Oprah told her to do. But holy dang did she take herself and this experiment way too seriously, and did she ever stress out way too much over entertainment.The basis for her experiment was the idea that no person could do everything Oprah wants them to do without going broke and insane. Well, no. Because I genuinely don't think Oprah - or any other maven of advising how to live a great life, like Martha Stewart, for example, who I also love and who the author holds up as a favourite of hers as well - actually wants you to attempt to do everything that they suggest. Some things aren't going to work for you, or appeal to you, or fit into your life. And so, those are the things that you don't do. Whereas others will make your life better, and those are the things you should do.I thought this was pretty simple.I usually watched every episode of Oprah, too, while it was on the air. Well, no, I DVR'ed every episode. Then I deleted the reruns, the shows about celebs I didn't care about, the shows about books I wasn't planning to read, the shows about stuff that didn't apply to me and I watched. Unlike Okrant, I did not watch the commercials, as I really didn't consider them a part of the whole "experience." I considered them annoying commercials.I wanted to put this down multiple times. I kept waiting for that epiphany to hit. I kept waiting for her to get enlightened or something. I kept waiting for the big reveal or the big explosion of knowledge, or *something*, anything to happen. I kept waiting to get through the tediousness of how awful it was to go clothes shopping or have a husband who patiently allows you to buy quirky chairs for every room (if we were broke, mine would so not be on board. I even asked), or how much it costs to cook from recipes instead of throwing together what's already in your kitchen. Since I already cook from recipes I couldn't relate. I was annoyed. I was bored. But I kept reading because I had hope.In the last two sections - November and December - I started skimming huge swaths of text, just looking for the payoff, but it never came.I would have rated this as 1.5 stars if I could have. There were parts that were okay, and the premise is interesting, and maybe others will get stuff out of it that I didn't, but mostly... yeah, I didn't like it.
What do You think about Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment To Live As TV's Most Influential Guru Advises (2010)?
Living a year of Oprah's "must haves and must do". I pretty much agreed with the author.
—Ajay
I really enjoyed this book. An eye opening experience.
—just
Got kind of tedious -- for me and for the author.
—mrcloc
