[Xenalyte]

Has anyone brought up any Oprah books or similar? They're all about women who were abused and misused, yet somehow triumph over all the dirt in their lives and become strong and independent. (Of men, usually.)

Xena's Mom kindly loaned me White Oleander, and I despised it. Abused daughter of unbalanced homicidal mother gets put in foster care, must learn to love and trust again.

Another great example: She's Come Undone. Blech. Abused daughter of unbalanced mother gets raped, gets fat, must learn to love and trust again.

[Snowy]

I read "Paradise" by Toni Morrison on the recommendation of Oprah. I even bought the hard cover. The book sucked eggs. I kept waiting for it to make sense and get good, but then I finished it.

[Utah Girl]

I belonged to an online Oprah bookclub for about 4 years. After I finally figured out that Oprah was only going to pick out the books about women who had tragedy in their lives, but overcame it in spite of all odds and bad men, I quit reading her picks. And it just killed me when she stopped the book club because there weren't any other good books out there that she felt she could recommend. Arghhh. Well, yeah, if all you are looking for are dysfunctional books.