Oprah Chooses Book of Short Stories

(AP)  Oprah Winfrey has blessed the book world's eternal underdog: the short story.

Publishing's surest hitmaker was to announce Friday that her latest pick was Uwem Akpan's debut collection "Say You're One Of Them," practically guaranteeing hundreds of thousands of sales, numbers generally unthinkable for short stories beyond works by Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever and other giants of the art form.

The Bestsellers

Akpan is a native of Nigeria and an ordained Jesuit priest who in 2006 received a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Michigan. His work is set in Nigeria, Rwanda and other African countries and often centers on children in distress. In 2005, The New Yorker featured him in its debut fiction issue.

Photos: Oprah Winfrey

Until now, he had endured the common fate of short story writers: well-liked by reviewers and little known to general readers. Combined hardcover and paperback sales for his book, first published in 2008 by Little, Brown and Company, were 32,000 before Friday, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks around 75 percent of sales.

Winfrey's previous selection came a year ago, when she chose another first-time author, David Wroblewski, for the novel "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle."

Friday's announcement caps one of publishing's most memorable weeks, beginning with the release of the late Ted Kennedy's "True Compass" and continuing with Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" and Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Will Win Glory."

[justsane-2009]

while i am not an "oprah book club member", i am delighted that she chose a short story collection. short stories are an often maligned area of fiction, but well-crafted short stories frequently offer the best examples of an author's work. yay oprah!