Oprah Picks Elie Wiesel’s Night

As has been widely reported, Oprah Winfrey’s new book club selection is Elie Wiesel’s Night, a memoir (or novel, depending on whom you’re talking to) of his life during the Holocaust. The choice of another creative non-fiction book has already led some people to wonder if Oprah’s defense of James Frey was “pre-emptive”. Meanwhile, at the New York Times, Edward Wyatt points out:

The selection of such a high-profile memoir seems likely to extend the debate over the nature of memoir and truth that flared last week around Ms. Winfrey’s previous book club choice, “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey. After an investigative Web site reported that substantial parts of Mr. Frey’s account were contradicted by the police and legal records, Mr. Frey admitted that he embellished certain parts of his life.

Ms. Winfrey defended him, however, saying that “the underlying message of redemption in James Frey’s memoir still resonates with me.”

Read it all here.