Monday, April 12, 2010

Oprah-power imposes a blackout
By Guy Adams, New Zealand Herald
 Monday Apr 12, 2010

Behind the screen image, Oprah Winfrey is a hard-edged manipulator, says her biographer. Photo / AP

She has built her fame and considerable fortune by baring her soul to a nation of telly addicts almost daily.
But despite her carefully cultivated "woman of the people" image, Oprah Winfrey takes a dim view of any outsider impertinent enough to wonder what makes her tick.
That is the verdict of celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, one of the book industry's foremost scandalmongers, who claims the magisterial chat-show host's personal privacy is protected by a wide-reaching brand of media censorship.
Kelley, who has swung a hatchet at Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra, and the royal family, will tomorrow publish an unauthorised biography of Winfrey, which is expected to delve into her abusive childhood and somewhat mysterious sex life.
It will have a print run of 500,000, and has generated sufficient buzz to be already in the top 25 of Amazon's sales charts.
But unlike almost every other biography of Kelley's career the launch of Oprah has attracted virtually no interest from TV channels.
Read the rest of the NZH story online here.

Footnote:

The Bookman can reveal the OPRAH by Kitty Kelley will publish in New Zealand on Friday 16 April.
Allen &Unwin (I think they are the publishers in this part of the world) haven't been publicising this release I presume because it's been strictly embargoed, but following the Herald story The Bookman has established the publication date. Can't wait to read it !

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