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    Oprah: A Biography
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    Oprah: A Biography
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    Oprah: A Biography
    Audiobook20 hours

    Oprah: A Biography

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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, fearlessly 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 manufactured 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 13, 2010
    ISBN9780307749253
    Unavailable
    Oprah: A Biography

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    Reviews for Oprah

    3.5/5

    144 ratings69 reviews

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    • 2/5
      If this is all Kitty Kelley can get on Oprah, it's either because Oprah is as good at controlling information as Kelley says or Oprah doesn't really do that much that's worth hiding. True, there isn't much about her show, but....
    • 3/5
      When reading this book, I felt as if I were in line at the grocery store - thumbing through copies of the Enquirer while waiting my turn to cash out. The author has clearly researched extensively - there is fact upon fact upon fact - but there is absolutely no humanity, no warmth, no attempt to bathe the subject in a warm glow of affection, respect or love. I came away with the idea that Oprah is a tireless worker who rose to the top with a combination of talent, drive and the luck of extremely good timing. She also is depicted to be selfish, self-serving and generally unpleasant to all except those whom she trusts (very few) and finds worthy.I read the whole book. I've never been an Oprah fan so none of it offended me. I hope I will never, ever be rich or famous enough for Kitty Kelley to want to have a go at me.
    • 3/5
      I have to say that I am glad to have finished this book and move on to something more inspiring. I found it incredibly bland, especially toward the end which is usually not the case with biographies. I did find out some interesting facts about Oprah that I was unaware of, and will look at her in a completely different light. Very interesting how she rose through the ranks and how her timing was perfect in terms of arriving on the stage when America was really ready for her. We often hear unflattering behind scenes stories of women that are "powerful" or influential, such as Martha Stewart who is known to also be a tyrant with her employees. The book, however, feels very negative and one sided, and I think that is what made it extremely boring.
    • 1/5
      What a negative and horrid book. Lot's of greedy people with a gripe, and based all on the authors personal hatred, with no real evidence. Plus most of the reviews listed for this book is for another book. If you can't be great put down greatness.
    • 2/5
      One and a half stars, really. I'm getting tired of the characters, the triteness. The overall idea is really neat, and the last 10 minutes of audio is compelling enough to make me want to read again, but when I start each book, I've wondered "Why am I reading this?" I'll give it some time and maybe pick up number 4.
    • 2/5
      I was pretty iffy about CHOSEN. The authors have tried to throw a few curveballs Zoey's way in this book, and although I think it's long overdue I wasn't impressed.

      In book 2, BETRAYED, I really liked seeing Zoey grow into a role of leadership, think for herself, and show some courage. She had ideas, and she made things happen. But in CHOSEN Zoey backslides a lot - she keeps coming up with plans of action (especially where her romantic life is concerned), and then...doing the exact opposite of what she decides. She makes some progress with Stevie Rae, but loses control everywhere else.

      She makes some decisions that cause her friends to think twice about her. But I ended up thinking less of her friends because of these incidents.

      A good example comes from the very beginning of the book, in the first chapter. Zoey's birthday is Christmas Eve and she has a serious problem with "Birthmas," when Christmas and Birthday gifts are smooshed together. But all of her friends get her Christmas-themed birthday presents. This seems unlikely from people like the Twins and Damien, who are very fashion-conscious and unlikely to get excited about kitsch. Zoey isn't thrilled but she thanks them all as enthusiastically as she can.

      Then her friends spy on a birthday card from Zoey's old boyfriend that mentions how much she hates getting Christmassy gifts for her birthday...and they all get angry at Zoey. Because she should have told them what not to get before she knew what they were getting? Because she didn't tell them she didn't like their presents as she was opening them? Both of these things would have been pretty tacky and rude. But her friends are unanimous in their disapproval.

      This whole incident left me feeling pretty frustrated with her friends, who were way too quick to jump on her, and whose behavior had been a little bizarre to begin with. Later on in the book, this type of incident is repeated and I was even more shocked at how fickle her friends appear to be. If someone has your back, they shouldn't be so fast to turn against you.

      The end result is that even though Zoey is facing more difficult challenges than ever before, they felt manufactured and artificial to me. I'm not sure if I thought CHOSEN was better or worse than earlier books - it's still fun, self-indulgent, and kind of lightweight. I'll be reading the next one when it comes out.
    • 4/5
      17 year old zoey has most of the issues of a typical teenager - school clique politics, hormones, hot teachers - plus that whole thing where she's a fledgling 'vampyre'. which is to say, she has a lot to figure out about the goddess worship she's leading, what happens to the teen body as it goes through "the change", and what on earth she's doing with her 3 hunky boyfriends and her un-dead former best friend. and she actually does come to resolutions of many of these things.

      finally!

      3 books in, the casts get around to completing an idea. many loose ends are tied up, the intros are done, and we've officially moved in to a solid plot. they've really hit their stride by this point, and some of my main gripes - the overuse of both cartoonishly silly teen-lingo and preachy anti-sex attitudes - have been toned down enough to not be such a distraction to enjoying the fun story. the back story from the previous books is rehashed enough that if you haven't picked up the 1st two, you'll be ok starting here.

      these books would have been really really good if they'd been edited down a hair, and then combined...3 novels to tell only the first 2 months of a 4-year school's worth bodes for a loooooong trip.

    • 4/5
      Not nearly as good as the other two, but I still really enjoyed it. I love all the characters except for the narrator, Zoey. She was mildly irritating in the first two, but she became absolutely unbearable in this one. She ended up stringing along three guys- Heath, Loren and Erik. Heath is her former human boyfriend, and Zoey just kept going back to him and making it worse for him. Loren is a teacher at the school, and Zoey's too naive to realize he's just using her. Erik, however, is a genuinely nice guy, who adores Zoey- and she treats him the worst, which was really awful to see. However, I think Zoey learned her lesson at the end of the book, and hopefully her character won't be quite so selfish in the next one. I like the plot that's developing around Neferet, and the story with Stevie Rae was interesting and unique. It was a good book, except for the bad character change in Zoey.
    • 4/5
      So now Zoey's juggling three guys and trying to fix Stevie Rae. The multiple guy thing just seems strange to me. It seems like she should just pick one and get on with it (yes, I know- "all these guys are special to me in different ways for different reasons..."- not buying it). The solution to the Stevie Rae problem is pretty good- to a degree at least.
    • 4/5
      It was so hard for me to empathize with Zoey Redbird on this book. I'd like to agree with her and say that she was indeed ho-ish on this one... actually you can drop the -ish. Juggling three guys: (1) Human Heath, (2) Vampire hottie Erik, (3) Vampire poet laureate Loren and succumbing to the latter's Cassanova's moves is just low. And Neferet is behind all that betrayal, no surprise there. I guess Zoey finally crossed the "coming of age" thing and finally reached "of age" status on this one.And what's up with Zoey's mom? Her mother and her step-loser of a dad puts CHarri's Fellowship of the Sun's Newlins to shame.
    • 3/5
      I was pleasantly surprised by the third installation of the house of night novels. There were plot twists that I didn't see coming and I really enjoyed Zoeys adventures this time around. The best one so far in the series, I will continue to read them.
    • 4/5
      This is the third book in the House of Night Series. With Bloodlust and dark forces are at work vampyre Zoey Redbird's adventures at the school are about to take a mysterious turn. While enemies are turning into friends. Zoey is tested like never before with her best friend Stevie Rae dying and undying but struggles to maintain her humanity. Also in this book Zoey find herself with three boyfriends. There mixed more than a little forbidden desire into the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster of massive proportions. I liked reading this books. As the books come out and the adventure continues Zoey is starting to see what is going on and some are not who they say they are. I loved this book, it's one of my favorites. I highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      I Love this book!!! I love the way P.C. and Kristin Cast not only manage to refresh and actualize (also even humanize) vampires (or vampyres, as they spell it), but they kept their essence!
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. Just as good as the last ones, Chosen does not disappoint. Zoey is back with more romantic tension, stress, and intrigue than ever. With a FANTASTIC twist at the end, this is a wonderful book.
    • 5/5
      I was impressed by the thoroughness and depth of Kitty Kelley's research, and I found the resulting biography very readable and very credible. Highly Recommended!
    • 5/5
      The third book in the 'House of Night' series continues Zoey's trials as she struggles to shoulder the power and responsibilities that Nyx has given her.As if Zoey's world isn't complicated enough, she goes from 2 boyfriends to 3. Honestly, I think that Erik is way too forgiving, he doesn't fight hard enough for Zoey even though he knows she's pulling away. And though Zoey doesn't want to think of herself as a 'slutty ho'...well, babe, if the shoe fits...By the end of this book her relationship struggles seem to come to an end. Hopefully she can do some growing up in the next book. She's only starting to learn what kind of battle is looming.I did enjoy the scene with Zoey's mom. I wish there was a little more interaction with them - they're obnoxious, yes, but entertaining. Off to the next book!
    • 3/5
      I normally wouldn't read this kind of book, any more than I would read magazines with celebrity gossip. But I've been curious about the Oprah phenomenon and for some reason really wanted to give it a go.Having started, I'm not even sure why I persisted until the end (it is NOT a short book!). The writing may be "objective" but somehow it's also cold and judgmental. Reporting facts with no human context just doesn't quite play well for me. The book didn't convert me to an interest in reading "the dirt" about anyone and I've still no idea why I made the effort!
    • 3/5
      For starters, I want to point out that I do enjoy the first two books in this series. I enjoyed Chosen as well. They are fluffy and enjoyable and the pages seem to race by. That out of the way, I don't honestly know what makes them so addictive. I like Zoey Redbird less and less with each book. She seems conceited and holds herself above others. The book explains it away as "Well I am Chosen, I am going to be the High Priestess so I may as well do...such and such". Yet, she just comes off as being snooty. Her group of friends are ok and I admire the fact that Zoey does care about her friends and she does try to protect them. Possible Spoilers ahead: Read at your own risk. The other negative is that her love square, (omg two boys and a man!) really became grating. She wavered back and forth between all three so quickly it was making my head hurt. The scenes with her teacher went overboard. This is a YA series and I expect some language and sexual innuendo or even tame sex scenes to be in these books. However, having a young girl be seduced by a teacher and actually lose her virginity to him, is over the line. If the Cast's wanted to do this, fine because writing is an art and it belongs to the authors, however I am very shocked that the publishing house allowed this in a book marked to young adults. Plus, the scenes with the two of them just felt plain icky. The dialogue is also extremely immature at times. In fact the cuss words and advanced sex scenes were even more out of place when paired with the childish way the teens talked. Maybe this is how teens talk, but I am around quite a few and I think they seem far more intelligent than how Zoey's group comes across. With that out of my system I can point out the plotline was very interesting. There is a murder on campus and that impedes Zoey's ability to get off campus and try to help her best friend Stevie Rae. There is also the mystery of whether Stevie Rae can be saved. Neferet is nasty as usual, and we see a couple new hands she has been playing. She is out for Zoey in a big way. I also think Aphrodite is my favorite character in this book. We really get more characterization from her than any of the others. If you liked the first two books, go for this one. It will be sure to satisfy your need for more. However, if you are parent checking this series out, you may consider yourself warned that there is more adult content here than in most of the other paranormal YA series currently out.
    • 3/5
      There's more sex in this book, which is ostensibly the reason some people want to ban it, but sex and it's aftermath are handled in a perfect way for the teenage readers who so love these books. The Stevie Ray thread is carried through nicely, but the "Big Secret" plot device, always one of my least favorites, is getting a bit old. The Casts present the idea of young girls keeping secrets in a good and informative way, but enough already. Also there's a glaring bit of ageism that subtracts half a star from my usual 3.5 star rating for the books of the series.
    • 5/5
      Read this book in a day, it was a good addition to the Zoey story. Aphrodite is more prominent in this one and I am starting to like her character more, even though she is the "enemy." With more stuff happening to the overall story line in this book it was very fast paced and entertaining. Zoey's character is still full of angst and teenage drama, but she even admits that outright. Some of the internal monologue is a bit lengthy and depressing. Overall, another great YA read.
    • 3/5
      Zoey’s character is believably developed in this book - and it was a brave move to show that she is a completely fallible individual. Unfortunately that seems to be the extent of believable, non-icky character development in this instalment. Her friends are mostly sickly sweet and spineless, and sometimes cringe-worthy. The major plot premises are that Zoey’s dead best friend turns out to be not completely dead, and that politicking by both vampyres and humans is making life dangerous for everyone.
    • 2/5
      I put this book on my summer reading list because Oprah fascinates me. Reading Kelley's book was like reading a 500 page Enquirer, but I couldn't put down her account of Oprah's life and career path.I had one major issue with the book. Kelley interviewed a wide swath of people from Oprah's life, almost all of them from her past since she has a gag order on current employees and guests, and all the people from her life before her move to Chicago all claimed that they "made" her, and seemed to take it personally that she wasn't calling every week. I have a hard time believing that a biography on Bill Gates or Warren Buffet would include such a condemnation. Even though Oprah has transcended a lot of our cultural expectations on race, class, religion and lifestyle, we still expect her to nurture her past co-workers. How many people are you in touch with from 30 years ago?
    • 2/5
      Although all the House of Night novels tick me off, this one did more than any of the others. What bothers me is that Zoey is a slut, and the decisions she and other people in the story make are not realistic. Sure, there are some people in the world who continuously make stupid decisions because they just don't learn, but to have so many of those people in just ONE BOOK? It's hard to tolerate, but unfortunately, I kept reading because the way the book ended did make me want to know what happened next. The same thing basically keeps happening in each of these books, though, so it has lost it's suspense.
    • 4/5
      Forget T.M.I. ("too much information.") Kitty Kelley's bulky opus on Oprah subjects readers to T.M.O. Unless you're among the most devoted Winfrey groupies, this book delves into way too much minutia and subjects readers to way too much redundancy. Having said this, the book also shines a glaring (and largely unflattering) spotlight on one of the true media icons of the the century. Kelley depicts Oprah as a vindictive, thin-skinned egotist with an amazing mind for business. There are some interesting insights offered, including her foray into politics (via her passionate support for Obama). There are also some fascinating vignettes that will delight students of the media regarding the changing face of talk shows and other trends. Finally, business buffs will enjoy Kelley's documentation of the rise of the Harpo empire. Still, the book has a scarcity of what Kelley described in one chapter as J.D.M's ("jaw-dropping moments.") Much of what's contained in this "tell-all" book has been told many times before.
    • 4/5
      Really liked this book. It is my favorite so far. It had a great suspense but also the background of a love story.
    • 3/5
      I am having a hard time finishing this series. It's interesting enough that I want to know what happens next, but the main character makes so many stupid decisions of the sort that make it hard to believe she's not at fault and, worse, she's become far too powerful already. This level of power is more suited to the end of a series or to a background character. She has no real challenges other than her own forays into easily side-stepped temptation.
    • 3/5
      I have to say that I am glad to have finished this book and move on to something more inspiring. I found it incredibly bland, especially toward the end which is usually not the case with biographies. I did find out some interesting facts about Oprah that I was unaware of, and will look at her in a completely different light. Very interesting how she rose through the ranks and how her timing was perfect in terms of arriving on the stage when America was really ready for her. We often hear unflattering behind scenes stories of women that are "powerful" or influential, such as Martha Stewart who is known to also be a tyrant with her employees. The book, however, feels very negative and one sided, and I think that is what made it extremely boring.
    • 3/5
      This is the book I waited for for years! Like many people, I never believed such a powerful woman like Oprah could get where she is now by being nice. Kelley shows us the 'real Oprah'. Obviously Kelley doesn't like Oprah a bit, so I assume the biography is heavily tainted. But I don't complain :D
    • 4/5
      I first read the back of this book while standing in line at a drug store checkout, and had rolled my eyes at the mention of Zoey's "three boyfriends." A powerful vampire who's all that and has guys fawning over her and it's oh so hard to choose between then... Blech. Pass!Then I read the first book. And the second. And now, as I end the third novel of the House of Night series, I am amused at how much my initial reaction echoes the major theme of this book: things are not always as they seem.The plot gets deeper, darker, and much more interesting. The first half was a little slow to get going, and the by the middle of the book everything exploded into a torrent of suspense and action and intruige. Some things I had suspected in advance. Others hit my like a ton of bricks.And as always, I was impressed by just how adult a YA novel can be, and as tired as I am of some of the attitudes portrayed, I do have to give the authors credit for treating their readers like mature intelligent people and not trying to hide the gritty facts of life or sanitize anything. The world is messy and painful and full of swearing and sex and betrayal. Once more, this series proves that it's capable of being real without wallowing in darkness like it's going out of style.I'm definitely looking forward to reading book 4!
    • 2/5
      If this is all Kitty Kelley can get on Oprah, it's either because Oprah is as good at controlling information as Kelley says or Oprah doesn't really do that much that's worth hiding. True, there isn't much about her show, but....