I have nothing to add to this well-tuned discussion. At the same time I have so much to say I could write a treatise that would out-length the longest posts here.

Maybe I'll be able to distill commentary in the next few days. But thanks so much for bringing this up, Jackie.

Meanwhile, if anyone's curious to see the entire list, go here and then click on "printable list":

http://www.oprah.com/obc/obc_landing.jhtml

She's got a kiddie lit list too.

Here's an interesting (*I think) stock room story: Eagerly-awaited hardcovers -- like John Grisham's latest, say -- arrive in the regular shipments with signs on the boxes reading: "Street Date: 13 August 2003. Do not display prior to this date." If you commit this sin, you sever your relationship with the publisher. This gets in the news every now and again when somebody violates (inadvertently or not) the rule and puts out a Harry Potter before its time.

Well, whoever is publishing the current Oprah doesn't bother with that. The Oprah Book arrives on The Day she announces it, so no chance of violating the agreement. Sure publishers pay extra for the special delivery, but look what they earn.