Oprah!: Up Close and Down Home

by Nellie Bly

Discusses Oprah Winfrey's career, talk show, motion picture roles, and production company, and recounts her troubled childhood

Genres: Biography

381 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Pseudonym of Sarah Gallick

Reviews

[Mary K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok I didn't actually read this because unless someone can straighten me out, this book is completely fake. Her sister is apparently interviewed in the first chapter but here's the problem: Oprah's sister was given up for adoption. That means every story she told about Oprah, like the one of her putting make-up on her and scrubbing it off with Comet, was completely made up by the author. What is this - a National Enquirer of the book world? And Nellie Bly is the famous pen name of an author who died before Oprah was born. Weird

[Tom Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a so-so unauthorized biography with the usual dirt written in an amateurish way. It paints a picture of Winfrey as hard-scrabble from an abusive, small-town background to claw into a TV career with a key stepping stone over actual beauty pageant winner Maude Mobley. Her rise in the Chicago market is counterpoint to the an agonizingly slow courtship with Stedman Graham, fluctuating weight, and touchiness. One interesting thing is the recurring mention of psychics famous for some actual "prediction" making some pronouncement about Oprah which fails to come true.

[Cody Essien · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ups and downs, the luxuries, and the hard-work of Oprah!

[Ryan Kleven · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to read paragraph long lists of the things Oprah ate or pages long lists of the things Oprah bought, then this is the book for you!

[Ema · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was alright. Definitely not among the greatest biographies. But not one of the worst either. I found the writing style pretty choppy, but the events were interesting enough to keep me going. I feel like alot of shit was exaggerated but I'm not Oprah, so I wouldn't know for sure. Only read it if you're REALLY interested about Oprah, otherwise put it down and walk away slowly.

[Mynette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the couple of chapters in the beginning which tackled her childhood, how she thought about her career path which led to her to be successful, her on-going struggle with her weight and how she dealt with it, as well as the snippets about her relationship with Stedman.

[Avagyan Liana · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Events were fast, interesting and a bit inspiring... however the author's writing style was miserable!! Could've been written better!