Frey

Earlier this month, celebrated author Jonathan Franzen finally graced The Oprah Winfrey Show stage, an appearance roughly nine years in the making. Some of you may recall the press that surrounded Winfrey’s book club selection of Frazen’s novel The Corrections in late 2001. Post-selection, Franzen expressed some discomfort with having a corporate "Oprah Book Club" logo attached to his creation. Oprah, stating she didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable as the reason, canceled Franzen’s appearance on her show to promote the selection. It didn’t hurt The Corrections sales, but it did blemish the author’s personal reputation for a period.

In September of this year, Oprah chose Franzen’s new novel, Freedom, as December’s book club selection. On December 6, he met Winfrey on the stage. Oprah introduced the segment saying, "…Jonathan Franzen…someone I’ve been waiting a long time to finally meet." Oprah barely suppresses an eye roll and the audience laughs. "Don’t start with me people!"