The Nineties: A Book

by Chuck Klosterman

Winfrey’s rise to prominence was rapid and astonishing. It starts in 1984, when Winfrey becomes a local news host in Chicago. By 1986, she has her own show, originally seen as an alternative to The Phil Donahue Show (the long-running chat program that essentially created the format). Oprah overtakes Donahue’s ratings in a matter of months. By 1993, she’s the genre’s powerbroker, asking Michael Jackson if he’s a virgin in front of a television audience of 90 million (his response: “I’m a gentleman”). By 1995, her net worth is $340 million and she’s surrounded by imitators, none of whom can compete. In 1996, she does an episode about mad cow disease and single-handedly craters the price of beef. That same year, Winfrey starts a book club, and her selections shape the literary landscape for a decade (novelist Jonathan Franzen is thrown into controversy simply by declining to go on her TV show, a decision his detractors view as ungrateful and condescending). In 2000, she creates her own monthly magazine and appears on every cover for twenty consecutive years.