Library Journal Review
Could you live each day for an entire year following every piece of advice Oprah Winfrey shared with you on her television show, magazine, and web site? That is exactly what Okrant, a yoga instructor and performer with an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, did throughout 2008. Her project and subsequent blog and now book were designed to take a firsthand look at the impact of celebrity advice-in this case, Oprah's Live Your Best Lifer advice-on the average woman. Her informal social experiment, dubbed "Living Oprah," was a yearlong journey of dieting, exercising, remodeling her apartment, analyzing her marriage, finding her passion, and experiencing Oprah's "favorite things." Did Oprah's advice work? To a certain extent, yes-Okrant lost weight and garnered a book deal. Yet she struggled throughout between "individuality and what Oprah wants." Verdict Okrant's writing, reminiscent of Laurie Notaro's humorous essays, is sprinkled with wit, honesty, and insight. For fans of memoirs, talk shows, reality TV, and, of course, Oprah.-Donna Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
Publishers Weekly Review
In this addition to the stunt-blog memoir genre, 35-year-old yoga instructor and performer Okrant spent 2008 living by Oprah's advice as dispensed via her show, magazine and Web site. The author was fascinated with the way Oprah evokes equal parts admiration and disdain, and curious about whether it's "even possible to follow someone else's advice to discover one's authentic self." Despite skepticism about the validity-or possibility-of finding happiness through Oprah, she embarked on 12 months of Oprah-prescribed activities and expenditures, plus blog updates. Monthly tallies detail activities, expenditures and the author's thoughtful observations. For example, she writes: "I believe Oprah's ultimate goal is to empower women and girls," but "I think Oprah devalues women by focusing so much on our bodies." The author is honest about her own experiment-inspired conflicts: as a result of her endeavors, she has a book and has lost weight, but is "almost always a stressed-out, insecure, exhausted mess." Okrant posits that, in many ways, pursuing a "best life" detracts from "real life." In the end, while there are few real revelations, Okrant has written a thoughtful, honest examination of her journey. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved |