Rooney a writer and publisher, was initially scornful of Oprah Winfrey's foray into book selection, because she was certain that the books would be lightweight popular fiction that would increase the gap between the intelligentsia and the rest of America. She has changed her mind. In this second edition of her study of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, Rooney discusses the intellectual snobbery that makes anything Oprah chooses automatically suspect. Rooney's conversion came through her realization that Oprah made no literary distinctions but chose books that said something to her and that she wanted to share. Her list includes respected writers such as Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates along with others not as well known. The book club has succeeded, because Oprah respects her audience and believes they will appreciate books that make one think, learn and change. This is what Rooney came to understand. Her subtitle, "the book club that changed America" is apt. Her evaluation of the phenomenon is filled with side notes about the authors, with a chapter on the James Frey "creative nonfiction" scandal. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)