Oprah's Bunk Club

[Guy Berger]

As for whether this is political or non-political, the article is really gray (which is making Chris smile with glee, I'm sure and yes, I get the joke...) and was probably posted just to make my life harder. Which I really appreciate.

Maybe in addition to the politics forum we could start a "catfight forum"...

Guy

[catesta]

I kind of wished that Frey had said it screw it all and mooned her or something of the sort.

Ha!

That would have been something.

[Alexander]

Frey's deed is symptomatic of America's general dislike of fiction and literature. Apparently, his is not the first novel to be turned down by publishers, only to have it accepted once the author starts calling it a "memoir." When I worked at B&N, I used to hear from customers ALL THE TIME about how they thought fiction was pointless. "It's not true. Why should I waste my time reading something that didn't really happen?" I hear it from students too. That Frey did this is not surprising. That he got caught is amusing, but hardly shocking. The only reason anyone cares is that Oprah made his book into a best seller...

Edited January 28, 2006 by Alexander

[7/4]

Frey's deed is symptomatic of America's general dislike of fiction and literature.

And symptomatic of being a heavy drug user. Some of them go through rehab, stop using drugs and still can't stop telling stories.

I wonder if the writing is the result of some kind of rehab therapy gone wrong.

Apparently, his is not the first novel to be turned down by publishers, only to have it accepted once the author starts calling it a "memoir." When I worked at B&N, I used to hear from customers ALL THE TIME about how they thought fiction was pointless. "It's not true. Why should I waste my time reading something that didn't really happen?" I hear it from students too. That Frey did this is not surprising. That he got caught is amusing, but hardly shocking.

Interesting insight. I just need an interesting story, interesting writing helps too. Hell...a story with strange writing works wonders too.

The only reason anyone cares is that Oprah made his book into a best seller...

Plus the longer she extends her time on the news...more exposure for her empire!

Edited January 28, 2006 by 7/4

[Quincy]

When I worked at B&N, I used to hear from customers ALL THE TIME about how they thought fiction was pointless. "It's not true. Why should I waste my time reading something that didn't really happen?" I hear it from students too.

For about ten minutes of my youth I had similar feelings. Partially because I was a history major, but also just because I was young & stupid. Luckily one of my professors (who was one of those great teachers you feel fortunate to run into in life) frequently suggested various works of fiction to better understand history & life. I think he knew enough that sometimes there's more truth in fiction than there is in non.

[7/4]

You are truly a contemptible piece of shit.

I don't know why you think this helps anything. Do you talk to people like this in real life? It really reflects poorly on you, Dan and I say that as a friend.

That's nothing, you should see the pms he's been sending me.

Something doesn't look right...pms is plural for pm. Correct?

[RonF]

I heard a guy on cable say that this is perhaps the first serious chink in Queen Opry's armor. She called Larry King on an impulse, delusional that she really is a god and that whatever she says will be accepted by the poor, huddled masses. But there was a problem. She looked at the polls, heard people actually criticizing HER! Imagine the horror! So, the queen summoned the peon wordsmith to her castle and proceeded to humiliate and verbally lash him on national television like some fat, sanctimonious bully. Well done Opry! But she didn't make him cry and that's what she was shooting for. Too bad. Send him to the dungeon with bread and water.

[RonF]

That's nothing, you should see the pms he's been sending me.

Unfortunately, that's a pattern going all the way back to Blue Note.

[couw]

That's nothing, you should see the pms he's been sending me.

Unfortunately, that's a pattern going all the way back to Blue Note.

maybe you folkses can keep all of this crap in the PM realm?

thanks much.

[7/4]

I heard a guy on cable say that this is perhaps the first serious chink in Queen Opry's armor. She called Larry King on an impulse, delusional that she really is a god and that whatever she says will be accepted by the poor, huddled masses. But there was a problem. She looked at the polls, heard people actually criticizing HER! Imagine the horror! So, the queen summoned the peon wordsmith to her castle and proceeded to humiliate and verbally lash him on national television like some fat, sanctimonious bully. Well done Opry! But she didn't make him cry and that's what she was shooting for. Too bad. Send him to the dungeon with bread and water.

Good call, but I think it's just another notch in her PR belt. Spin it into something good. In other words...anything for attention.

Edited January 28, 2006 by 7/4

[RonF]

maybe you folkses can keep all of this crap in the PM realm?

There's a name-calling, filthy-mouthed person on the board who bombards other members with vulgar personal messages when he is criticized. Maybe that should be out in the open, don't you think?

[couw]

maybe you folkses can keep all of this crap in the PM realm?

There's a name-calling, filthy-mouthed person on the board who bombards other members with vulgar personal messages when he is criticized. Maybe that should be out in the open, don't you think?

no, I don't think.

Look, you guys obviously have some vendetta going on behind the screnes. Solve it among yourselves and with the administrators if you wish, but please try and keep it from fouling up threads and the board. As much as Dan is calling names, others are starting threads or posting shite to provoke him to do so. Cut the crap, grow up and quit blaming it all on Dan. We all know Dan has a thin skin. He also has a nice side that has contributed quite a bit to these online societies. So maybe y'all can stop to knowingly rub him the wrong way and maybe he can promise not to jump on every little bean in his soup.

[7/4]

couw wrote:

Look, you guys obviously have some vendetta going on behind the screnes.

Nah, some of us are sick of his angry shit. It's not a case of being thin skinned as it's about him needing help for his road rage on the information superhighway.

I have email from Dan last month where he wrote (along with a bunch of insults) that he putting me on his ignore list . What happened?

[7/4]

I know Dan can be knowledgeable about his area of Jazz, but there's no real good reason for his rants. I can't forget him flipping out because I posted a photo of a woman in underware in the babe thread. Odd? I think so.

[Christiern]

couw: "Look, you guys obviously have some vendetta going on behind the screnes."

Sure, this is all about a vendetta, not a poster who consistently gets out of hand and insults his fellow posters. That--if you'll pardon the analogy--is like saying that criticism leveled at America's first appointed "president" must reflect some sort of personal hatred, thereby implying that it could not possibly be well founded.

Oops, so help me Gould, I may just have banished this thread to the nether region of O.

[couw]

couw: "Look, you guys obviously have some vendetta going on behind the screnes."

Sure, this is all about a vendetta, not a poster who consistently gets out of hand and insults his fellow posters. That--if you'll pardon the analogy--is like saying that criticism leveled at America's first appointed "president" must reflect some sort of personal hatred, thereby implying that it could not possibly be well founded.

Oops, so help me Gould, I may just have banished this thread to the nether region of O.

yes Chris, it's all Dan's fault. You are an empty slate.

[RonF]

no, I don't think.

Look, you guys obviously have some vendetta going on behind the screnes. Solve it among yourselves and with the administrators if you wish, but please try and keep it from fouling up threads and the board. As much as Dan is calling names, others are starting threads or posting shite to provoke him to do so. Cut the crap, grow up and quit blaming it all on Dan. We all know Dan has a thin skin. He also has a nice side that has contributed quite a bit to these online societies. So maybe y'all can stop to knowingly rub him the wrong way and maybe he can promise not to jump on every little bean in his soup.

couw,

Your post, sir, is preposterous. There's no vendetta. No one is provoking. And who's blaming? He's infamous for baiting. He's infamous for namecalling. What you're suggesting is that when someone gets blasted with "You are truly a contemptible piece of shit.", followed by vulgar PMs, that they just be quiet and be careful not to rub him the wrong way. Thin skin? Give me a f*cking break. People have been bounced for that "crap". That's an insult.

[Guy Berger]

maybe you folkses can keep all of this crap in the PM realm?

There's a name-calling, filthy-mouthed person on the board who bombards other members with vulgar personal messages when he is criticized. Maybe that should be out in the open, don't you think?

no, I don't think.

Look, you guys obviously have some vendetta going on behind the screnes. Solve it among yourselves and with the administrators if you wish, but please try and keep it from fouling up threads and the board. As much as Dan is calling names, others are starting threads or posting shite to provoke him to do so. Cut the crap, grow up and quit blaming it all on Dan. We all know Dan has a thin skin. He also has a nice side that has contributed quite a bit to these online societies. So maybe y'all can stop to knowingly rub him the wrong way and maybe he can promise not to jump on every little bean in his soup.

Agreed.

Guy

[Randy Twizzle]

According to this AP Story it's all about Oprah's brand. She's a one man brand. Let's strike up the brand!

Oprah Winfrey is not just one of the most popular talk show hosts in history, she is the woman behind a brand - including her production company, magazine and book club - that has the power to influence millions.

Analysts say that when Winfrey confronted disgraced author James Frey on her show Thursday, her motive wasn't only about bringing the truth to light, it was about protecting that brand.

"She did it textbook correct in terms of how to handle crisis PR," said marketing strategist Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries in Atlanta. "It was honest, it was real, and it was just the right thing to do for her brand as well."

Winfrey spent Thursday's show challenging Frey about why he "felt the need to lie" about the events portrayed in his book "A Million Little Pieces" and chastising him for betraying his readers.

Winfrey had helped catapult Frey's memoir about addiction and recovery to The New York Times best seller list when she named it as her book club selection in September 2005. The book was originally released in 2003.

Winfrey's scolding of Frey came just two weeks after she called in to defend him when he appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" show.

"I regret that phone call," Winfrey said Thursday.

Jeff Swystun, global director for the New York-based branding consulting firm Interbrand, said it isn't surprising that Winfrey felt the need to take Frey to task on her show given the "values of the Oprah brand," such as openness, honesty and humanity.

The Oprah brand has been "blue chip up to this point" in terms of influence, awareness and reputation, Swystun said.

According to Forbes, the 51-year-old Winfrey is worth an estimated $1.1 billion. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" alone reportedly pulls in about $300 million a year.

While protecting the Oprah brand was one motivation for Thursday's show, it probably wasn't the primary one, analysts said.

"My guess is that Oprah truly is more concerned about her customers, her viewers," said Andrew Pierce, senior partner at San Francisco-based Prophet, a marketing and branding consulting company. "That's what has always made her such a powerful brand."

But at least one media watcher said he felt that Winfrey's public about-face on Frey was too little, too late.

"Oprah has been in such a unique position that it takes more than just her performance (Thursday) to undo the damage that she did with Frey's book," said Paul Levinson, chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in New York.

"When the story broke, she, again, chose to support Frey," Levinson said. "Loyalty is important, but she should have loyalty to her viewers and to the people who look up to her. That's more important than loyalty to this author."

Many analysts said they felt the Frey flap would eventually blow over and leave Oprah's brand intact.

"I think her brand was so overwhelmingly powerful that this was a little blip," Ries said. "I think she could've gotten away without doing it. It's a true testament to the brilliance of Oprah that she did it."

[Alexander]

When I worked at B&N, I used to hear from customers ALL THE TIME about how they thought fiction was pointless. "It's not true. Why should I waste my time reading something that didn't really happen?" I hear it from students too.

For about ten minutes of my youth I had similar feelings. Partially because I was a history major, but also just because I was young & stupid. Luckily one of my professors (who was one of those great teachers you feel fortunate to run into in life) frequently suggested various works of fiction to better understand history & life. I think he knew enough that sometimes there's more truth in fiction than there is in non.

Absolutely. I once had a customer come up to me at B&N and ask me, "If a book is fiction, does that mean it isn't true?" I said that he was entering a grey area when it comes to questions of "truth." Many works of fiction, I explained, contain great truths even if the events and characters they describe aren't "real." I also pointed out many books that are sold as "non-fiction" aren't entirely "true" themselves. Rush Limbaugh is classified as non-fiction, I noted, but you'll get a big argument from me as to whether or not his writing is "true." The customer then stared at me blankly for a moment and then went to find somebody else to ask. As he walked away I shouted, "That's what you get for asking a grad student!"

[RonF]

Agreed.

Guy

[Christiern]

Hey, you guys wanna go hear Martha and the Vendettas at the Bad Blood Bistro next week?

[7/4]

Hey, you guys wanna go hear Martha and the Vendettas at the Bad Blood Bistro next week?

Arf, arf!

[Jazzmoose]

That's nothing, you should see the pms he's been sending me.

Unfortunately, that's a pattern going all the way back to Blue Note.

maybe you folkses can keep all of this crap in the PM realm?

thanks much.

But I only get AM...