I was managing a bookstore the year that Oprah Winfrey started her book club.

All of the sudden we had Oprah fans flooding into our stores the minute she announced her pick, and for the most part we were able to fill the orders.

But then Oprah’s club took on epic proportions and everyone from the publishers to the carriers to the sellers had to adjust- but hey that was our job.

What was NOT my job was to stand there and be told I was…that’s right me because I represented the company of course- an idiot for not realizing how IMPORTANT this book(s )were.

Why wasn’t it in stock in large quantities ALL of the time?

This book, as recommended by Oprah was the finest in literature…it was important. What kind of bookstore were we?

Then came the sticker shock because I think that a lot of Oprah fans had not purchased book for a very long time and $12.00 for a trade paperback was expensive. Some of Oprah’s fans even thought we were price gouging them.

It came to the point that when I heard a new Oprah pick was going to be announced, I took the next few days off so I wouldn’t have to be in the store when her fans showed up.

To this day I will argue that Oprah’s picks were just that. They were her picks. They tickled her fancy. They entertained her fans and made them feel like they were part of a  well informed club.

As Oprah’s picks rolled out,  I would look at those boxes and think those books were flying off the shelves because Oprah TOLD them to fly off the shelves and they did.

I know it was good that people were reading, because who knew that years later that books and the stores that sold them would become somewhat obsolete.

I just don’t think those books were exactly top shelf literature.

But don’t take my word for it.

I’m a Stephen King fan.