PW: An Author Gaines by Oprah's Latest Pick

Daisy Maryles |

Sep 22, 1997

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An Author Gaines by Oprah's Latest Pick
Daisy Maryles -- 9/22/97
The fall season heats up this week with 10 new books landing on PW's charts. But some of the real sizzle will be happening to the lucky authors handpicked by Oprah for her on-air book club; so far, her first eight selections have all gone on to impressive spells on the charts with accompanying large printings. And today -- drumroll, please -- Oprah announces her next pick -- A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, published by Knopf in 1993 and honored by the NBCC as the year's best fiction. PW's review was glowing: "Gaines's first novel in a decade may be his crowning achievement. In this restrained and eloquent narrative, the author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman again addresses some of the major issues of race and identity in our time." The book's hardcover printings were modest, about 40,000 after nine trips to press. If Vintage followed the example set by other Oprah picks -- and why wouldn't it? -- the trade paper printing to meet the anticipated demand could be anywhere from 750,000 to one million. Word is that they will also be reissuing the Jane Pittman title -- back in 1993, we reported sales of more than a million copies worldwide since its 1971 publication -- and a 1983 novel, A Gathering of Old Men.
Knopf benefitted a bit by Oprah's second pick, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon (about 120,000 hardcover copies sold during the last year) but the bulk of sales were via the Plume edition, no gain there for the Random empire. No need to feel bad, as Knopf is planning a first printing of about 500,000 copies for Morrison's new novel, Paradise, due in February and the Vintage edition of A Lesson Before Dying could top the charts in the next week or two.
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A version of this article appeared in the 09/22/1997 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: