Last night, in the literary crossover episode of our dreams, the leaders of the world’s three biggest book clubs shared a single stage at the Ford Foundation in New York City.
The event launched Amy Griffin’s book tour for her new memoir—and Oprah’s most recent Book Club pick—The Tell, with a special Q&A moderated by actress Mariska Hargitay. But before Griffin and the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star took the stage, the Ford Foundation president, Darren Walker, announced that Griffin had a “special friend” who had decided to pop by and “offer a few words of encouragement to this first-time author.” Enter: Oprah.
While audience members worked to gather their jaws from the floor, Oprah explained that she was introduced to Griffin’s memoir by Gayle King, who was sent an early manuscript. “She started telling me about this story, and I said, ‘Give me that book—I need to read that book right now,’” Oprah recounted. “After 30 or 40 pages, I knew I wanted to choose it as an Oprah’s Book Club selection, and after 100 pages, I knew why it was so important that it be chosen as an Oprah’s Book Club selection.” In The Tell, Griffin tells the story of uncovering repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and her journey to overcome the shame, secrecy, and perfectionism that grew out of that trauma.
“I can tell you for sure that what this is going to do is release a lot of people to be free,” Oprah said of the memoir, before acknowledging the wide impact that the book has already had. “Never before have I been anywhere,” she told the crowd, where “Reese’s Book Club and Jenna’s Book Club and my Book Club were all in the same room.” Oprah then invited Reese Witherspoon and Jenna Bush Hager, who were seated next to each other in the second row, to join her onstage for a photo with the book.
Griffin’s book tour will continue through March 17, with stops in Charleston, Los Angeles, and Nashville—but it’s hard to imagine that anything will top the events of the first night.
Charley Burlock is the Books Editor at Oprah Daily where she writes, edits, and assigns stories on all things literary. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from NYU, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing. Her work has been featured in the Atlantic, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Hyperallergic, the Apple News Today podcast, and elsewhere. You can read her writing at charleyburlock.com.
