Oprah's life and personality is weirdly compelling, but Kelley's tone is snide throughout. I'd like to read a biography of Oprah that is honest, but less mean-spirited in the future. Although Kelley's snarky, this biography reminded me of the second volume of Peter Guralnick's Elvis bio, Careless Love--all the money and fame in the world can't save you from heartbreak, backstabbing relatives and friends, weight troubles, career criticism, isolation, and insecurity. Like Elvis, Oprah has been betrayed by family and close friends, who were eager to take her money (lots and lots of it) and then badmouth her to the world and sell her lowest moments to the National Enquirer. That alone is heartbreaking, I imagine. In public, she has also been lambasted for being too lowbrow, too New Age, not literary enough, not giving, giving for the wrong reasons, too political, etc. Oprah emerges from all the snark as something of a contradiction--confident in her ambitions, yet struggling with body image, altruistic but lavish, loyal to her friends and still eager to bind all her employees and show guests into lifetime confidentiality agreements. In this sprawling biography of over 500 pages, Kelly essentially dismantles the popular image of the all-embracing, sweet as honey, warm as the sun Oprah we have come to know (and in many cases, love). Kelly promises right from the beginning that she will be as objective as possible, and that while the book contains much criticism of Oprah, the book is written with compassion and respect. While I did find that Kelly focused predominantly on the negative--with countless anecdotes about Oprah's rudeness to her staff, ruthless financial management, artificial warmth, and shameless quest to make everything all about her--she does keep her voice reasonably objective throughout. Most of the meat of the book comes from external sources such as interviews, segments from the Oprah show, newspaper articles, personal accounts from friends and family, etc. It is clear that Kelly put a lot of care, time, and energy into crafting an honest but compassionate biography--one that tells the truth about the enigmatic Oprah Winfrey, but one which also seeks to understand and make sense of her as a human being. You might not like Oprah much by the end of this book; you might even feel a little betrayed. But you will, I think, be able to appreciate her success and the hard work she had to do to get where she is today. Well done, Ms. Kelly.
What do You think about Oprah A Biography (2000)?
Tabloid trash novel, but a good in between serious themed novels or non-fiction
—satishphrma
A story about a great woman written by a woman of questionable talent.
—gelayama
680 - 2013Pinjam dari Pustaka Kelana / Mangkal.
—tsukasa
Literary crack. You just can't put it down!
—samijo85
