Winfrey picks 2 Dickens novels for book club

[December 06, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Better set some time aside for Oprah Winfrey's latest book club pick.

The talk show host has selected a pair of Dickens classics, "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations." The two novels are being issued in a single bound paperback edition, around 800 pages, with a list price of $20.

Winfrey is to announce her choice Monday, when her long-awaited reconciliation with Jonathan Franzen will air. Winfrey picked Franzen's "Freedom" nine years after his ambivalence over her selection of his novel "The Corrections" led her to withdraw her invitation to appear on her show.

On Sunday, The Associated Press purchased a copy of the new Dickens volume, which has the book club logo on the cover. Winfrey has chosen older works before, including Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" and John Steinbeck's "East of Eden." Her website recommends Dickens' "David Copperfield," noting it was a favorite of Tolstoy's.

[Associated Press; By HILLEL ITALIE]

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