Oprah: A Biography

Written by:
Kitty Kelley
Narrated by:
Kitty Kelley

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
33
Narrator
Release Date
April 2010
Duration
19 hours 57 minutes
Summary
For the past twenty-five years, no one has been better at revealing secrets than Oprah Winfrey. On what is arguably the most influ¬ential show in television history, she has gotten her guests—often the biggest celebrities in the world—to bare their love lives, explore their painful pasts, admit their transgressions, reveal their pleasures, and explore their demons. In turn, Oprah has repeatedly allowed her audience to share in her own life story, opening up about the sexual abuse in her past and discussing her romantic relationships, her weight problems, her spiritual beliefs, her charitable donations, and her strongly held views on the state of the world.

After a quarter of a century of the Oprah-ization of America, can there be any more secrets left to reveal?

Yes. Because Oprah has met her match.

Kitty Kelley has, over the same period of time, fear¬lessly and relentlessly investigated and written about the world’s most revered icons: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, England’s Royal Family, and the Bush dynasty. In her #1 bestselling biographies, she has exposed truths and exploded myths to uncover the real human beings that exist behind their manufac¬tured facades.

Turning her reportorial sights on Oprah, Kelley has now given us an unvarnished look at the stories Oprah’s told and the life she’s led. Kelley has talked to Oprah’s closest family members and business associates. She has obtained court records, birth certificates, financial and tax records, and even copies of Oprah’s legendary (and punishing) confidentiality agreements. She has probed every aspect of Oprah Winfrey’s life, and it is as if she’s written the most extraordinary segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show ever filmed—one in which Oprah herself is finally and fully revealed.

There is a case to be made, and it is certainly made in this book, that Oprah Winfrey is an important, and even great, figure of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But there is also a case to be made that even greatness needs to be examined and put under a microscope. Fact must be separated from myth, truth from hype. Kitty Kelley has made that separation, showing both sides of Oprah as they have never been shown before. In doing so she has written a psychologically perceptive and meticulously researched book that will surprise and thrill everyone who reads it.
Reviews
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Anonymous

I've been an audiobook listener for about 20 years and I couldn't listen to this whole book - very unusual for me - I've only stopped listening to about 3 books in all those years. Ms. Kelly goes in circles with a hypothesis about Oprah and then "supporting hearsay," another hypothesis and then support - on and on... Often repeating the same anecdotes to make different points. Not very organized or well crafted.

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Anonymous

This book was somewhat interesting and enlightening. However, I felt that someone other than the author/reader should have read the story. The read was boring.

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Peggy Stortz

Kelley shares the fascinating story of Oprah--how she rose from poverty to become a legend, her assets and her foibles. Hearing this book is better, and probably more factual, than listening to a gossipy neighbor. I loved it.

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Anonymous

I returned this set before getting through the first disc. I felt like I was about to embark on a 20 hour reading of a tabloid by an author whose voice sounded arrogant and condescending.

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