Officially Official: Oprah Picks Franzen's FREEDOM

Introducing the already-known pick on this morning's show, Oprah Winfrey told her audience that author Jonathan Franzen had sent a galley to her with a note--and that Winfrey in turn called to ask Franzen's permission to select the book for her club. "We have a little history," she said.

Perhaps most importantly, Winfrey said this is not her final book club pick. She promised to "continue to pick books all season long" and said that even after the Oprah Winfrey Show finishes its run at the end of this season, she will continue her book club on the Oprah Network."

Publisher Farrar, Straus tells us they already had 355,000 copies in print from five printings, and they printed an additional 600,000 copies emblazoned with the Oprah's Book Club sticker.