Author: Kitty Kelly, famed biographer best known for her unauthorized biographies of Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography and The Family: The Real Story of The Bush Dynasty.
Published by: Random House on April 13, 2010.
How Long?: The tome is 912 pages long.
What's it Say?: Tons - and is alleged to include numerous factual errors, including:
- Perdue Farms CEO Frank Perdue calling Oprah Winfrey a gorilla on TV. Not so, says former co-worker Richard Sher, who was there when the interview happened.
- Fox pundit Bill O'Reilly telling Oprah she was too liberal. Nuh-uh, says O'Reilly, who confronted Kelley about the anecdote on his show when the book was released.
- The real identity of Oprah's biological father, told to her by one of Oprah's older relatives. Can't be, say her relatives, who don't even know the true identity of her biological father.
- Easily discovered facts about Baltimore, Md., the city where Oprah once worked.
Then there's the alleged affair with musician and former Entertainment Tonight host John Tesh. And the accusation that Oprah took money for sex when she was an out-of-control teenager. An affair, drug use, and more.
What Are People Saying?:
- Amazon.com readers give the book three out of five stars.
- The Washington Post thinks much the same, saying "a certain odor precedes (Kelley's) unauthorized biographies."
- Newsweek says "There are moments when you feel sorry for Winfrey because everyone wants a piece of her."
- The New York Times: "The larger problem with Ms. Kelley's reportorial Cuisinart is that its mash-up of Winfrey voices is so disjointed. … After some hollow authorial claims of respect and admiration, Oprah just aims for the jugular. It doesn't draw blood."
TV Time: Filmmaker Larry A. Thompson is planning a TV movie based on Oprah: The Definitive Biography. It's due on television in Sept. 2011. No word on who will play Oprah in the film.
