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Product Description
Product Description
A revelatory account of America’s most famous chat-show host, which charts her meteoric rise to international stardom and explore the painful and well-publicized crises of her personal life.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From the Back Cover
Oprah Winfrey is America's wealthiest and most famous black woman, but her present-day success is at odds with her humble beginnings.
Born illegitimate and virtually abandoned as a child, Oprah grew up in a tiny ghetto apartment where, having been sexually abused, she embarked on wild and promiscuous teenage years. Yet, burning with ambition and determination, she landed her first job with a radio station while she was still in high school, won several beauty contests and, by the age of nineteen, was hired by a television station.
This book details Oprah' contemplation of suicide, her teenage miscarriages, the trauma of her public battle with dieting, the anguish of her indecision over marriage and the previously unpublicized ultra-right-wing connections of her long-time boyfriend. 'The Definitive Story' also looks at the success of the talk show, its social implications, and uncovers the scandal of behind-the-scenes deals to plant 'satisfied customers' in the audience.
Prize-winning journalist George Mair has interviewed Oprah's friends, family, colleagues and critics to present this extraordinary account of her struggles and success.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Being a huge Oprah Winfrey fan I was more than a little dissapointed to read this book. Mair explores Oprah's life from her early days to the present but despite providing the basic facts of her life and climb to fame, the book gets bogged down with tv facts and jargon. There isn't enough about the remarkable woman who rose from a difficult childhood to the wealthiest black woman in America.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
An American Success Story...and a cure for depression!!
8 Aug 1999
Format:Paperback
I listened to the audiotape with great interest, right about the time I was writing the chapter on Depression in my own book. This clearly shows how even under the most adverse and seemingly hopeless circumstances, personal belief and confidence count for everything and can accomplish anything!! Should be a stirring wake up for those who suffer depression and feel they can't pull themselves out. In "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" I talk about the various treatments for depression. Once the cycle is started, medical treatment is required. However among my own patients, it is usually something like an example showing "how it is possible" to get them to believe that the feelings of worthlessness are destructive lies from the inside. Once a person has this "proof of example" they acquire the inner strength to the corner with new found belief in themselves and their capabilities. Oprah has battled many adverse circumstances, and even after acheiving what society would term "phenomenal success". She comes through each disaster like a phoenix-bird up from the ashes. Say what you want about her various reputations for being tough and mean...people its a tough world, and it takes a confident and driving woman to concretize her personal dreams! This book has a simple plot: this one amazing woman faces enough bad luck from her truly humble beginnings for any "self-pitier" to write volumes on "my excuse for failure: how the world screwed me". She then consistently and gracefully flies through each challenge carrying seemingly inexhaustible inner strength and the focus of a laser-beam. She ignores all obvious outward indicators of hopelessness,impending doom, and instead of quitting each time when most of us would, she follows her own instincts. Like her or not, her life is an amazing story of what any American is capable of by shedding the shroud of excuses and tales of woe.....All the best to Ms. Winfrey and to Mr. Mair...though she may not be totally pleased with his candid depiction, and even if the stories are not completely accurate, this tome paints a very admirable picture of our greatest contemporary American success story...Kenneth Giuffre MD, author "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain"
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
I'm not a fan of unauthorized biographies.
23 Oct 2002
Format:Hardcover
This is a good book from two points:
One, it explains indepth teh business strategy behind Harpo Studios and those who helped Oprah not only attain her vision but expand it.
Two, the earliest chapters have good information that she has publicly revealed herself about her beginnings in both life and business.
Other than that, I think it's sleazy to write these kinds of books without someone's at the least tacit cooperation. Though this doesn't approach some of the sniping of say a Tamborelli book, there are still visble comments that one could attribute to a jealous/envious/salacious writer....
One, it explains indepth teh business strategy behind Harpo Studios and those who helped Oprah not only attain her vision but expand it.
Two, the earliest chapters have good information that she has publicly revealed herself about her beginnings in both life and business.
Other than that, I think it's sleazy to write these kinds of books without someone's at the least tacit cooperation. Though this doesn't approach some of the sniping of say a Tamborelli book, there are still visble comments that one could attribute to a jealous/envious/salacious writer....
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Oprah is GREAT!....but I'm not so sure this book is
22 Mar 2000
Format:Paperback
I just finished reading this Oprah book, and I have to be honest. I love Oprah to death and I admire her greatly, but I think this book was poorly written and organized. There were many events in Oprah's life, but in reading this biography, I was confused often as to the exact particulars of many incidents. An incredible book could be written about Oprah's life, but I don't think this book does a very good job at it. I guess I will just have to wait for the day Oprah comes out with her own autobiography!
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