Our Eyes Were Watching

by Daisy Maryles -- Publishers Weekly, 3/14/2005

Originally published in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston never made a bestseller list—until this week: it's #4 on our trade paper list. Even so, Perennial reports that there were about 3.3 million copies of the book in print by late 2004. Since then, Perennial has shipped 300,000 copies. What gave this classic bestseller status? You guessed it—Oprah. She produced the TV movie that aired on Sunday, March 6, starring Halle Berry. That combo was enough to make it the highest-rated Oprah Winfrey Presents movie and helped ABC notch its best time-slot numbers in nearly five years: 24.6 million viewers, beating its closest competitor, CBS, by 14 million viewers. —with reporting by Dick Donahue