'Stolen' from Oprah
by Daisy Maryles -- Publishers Weekly, 5/21/2001
We're going way out on a limb with this prediction, but here goes: Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, which made our nonfiction list for one week (Apr. 30), will make a strong comeback, very soon, and in a considerably higher position than its former #13 (we're guessing #3, after Jabez and Cheese). How can we be so sure, you ask? Because this Talk Miramax title, written by Malika Oufkir and Michèle Fitoussi, was chosen last Wednesday as the 41st selection of Oprah's on-air book club. A little concrete evidence of Oprah's bookselling abilities: Wednesday morning, before the Oprah announcement, the book ranked #14,793 at Amazon; exactly 24 hours later, it was #1. Talk Miramax reported 52,500 pre-Oprah copies in print; the publisher is going back for an additional 525,000. According to Ms. Winfrey, the book "is unlike anything I've ever read—it will shock you, inspire you and educate you."
With reporting by Dick Donahue.
