Oprah’s next book club pick is Marilynne Robinson’s (four) Gilead novels.
Look: maybe our puny mortal book clubs are only allowed to select one book at a time, but that’s one of the many ways in which Oprah differs from us: she can, if she chooses, anoint four books at once with her mighty seal. In this case, the four books of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead series: Gilead (2004), Home (2008), Lila (2014), and Jack (2020).
“I’m thrilled to tell you that my new Oprah’s Book Club selection is not one book but four books,” said Winfrey in a press release.
As I was recently reading author Marilynne Robinson’s latest novel, ‘Jack,’ I thought it would be wonderful to explore her entire Gilead universe through these four novels. I am looking forward to going on this journey with our Book Club community over the coming months.
Among Robinson’s many awards are two Pulitzers, a National Medal for the Humanities, and President Obama’s devotion, but this is her first time as an Oprah-anointee. “Oprah Winfrey is a singular voice in this country and in the world,” she said, “It is wonderful and amazing that my books will have the kind of attention only she could bring to them.”
One of my colleagues pointed out that choosing FOUR OLD BOOKS (okay, three old books and one new-ish book) instead of one new release is truly chaotic, but I think we can all agree that this choice lands squarely in the Chaotic Good quadrant.
